The Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert for tax refund schemes after seeing an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents so far this tax season.

Stolen identity taken from taxpayer social security numbers is the basis for most fraudulent tax return scams. Social Security numbers may be obtained in a number of ways. It includes direct contact with a taxpayer, from a list stolen by other scammers, stolen from records of businesses, hospitals or other institutions.

A particularly clever scheme is using e-mail to convince corporation officers to provide employee W-2 forms. Frequently, initial contact is by a call to a taxpayer from a person purporting to be from the IRS requesting a Social Security verification number. Or, the caller may threaten litigation or criminal prosecution if the taxpayer does not pay a substantial amount of money.

A taxpayer who has been the victim of a tax refund scam should promptly contact the IRS at 1-800-908-4490, or complete an Identity Theft Affidavit Form 14039. Needless to say, every taxpayer should use extreme caution to guard against theft of a social security number.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns about false or misleading ads for health related products. Certain products may not only fail to provide promised benefits, but contain ingredients that will do harm instead.

Specifically named is the product Lipodissolve as causing severe side effects.

Most dietary products are not approved by the FDA. Ads that should be considered suspect include:

The FDA states : "Weight loss products, including those that contain dietary supplements, herbals, and vitamins may be harmful to individuals with certain medical conditions, or interact with other medications. Therefore, always consult with your doctor before starting with any weight loss product or program."

The Federal Trade Commission suggests that before you purchase any weight loss product or service you should research its validity by calling the Federal Trade Commission (202-326-2222), or Food and Drug Administration (1-888-463-6332).