If a picture is worth a thousand words, picture my surprise at an e-mail early Tuesday morning. Someone I had never met wanted to help me get my federal economic stimulus refund sooner than I would otherwise. All I had to do was hand over any or all of my personal financial information, and the kind person in cyberspace would do the rest.

Maybe he has a bridge for sale, too.

There are several tip-offs that this is a scam. The most perilous – and this is true of most e-mail hoaxes – is the instruction to “just click on the link below.” NEVER click any link in an unsolicited e-mail; you’ll be redirected to a site where fraud artists will try to gather information that will give them electronic access to your money.

Another tip-off: the urging to communicate “before May 12th.” That would have been difficult, since the e-mail arrived on the 13th. But no matter; it’s all a hoax anyway. It’s just the latest in a series of scams that con artists have used to swindle people who are eager for the rebate.

The scam artists were at work even before the ink had dried on the bill that created the economic stimulus plan. They were off to the illicit races with nothing more than a 1-800 number and a promise of quick cash. For some people who went for it, the result was a drain of their bank accounts and no quicker receipt of that government check.

The telephone version usually works this way: A caller pretends to be from the Internal Revenue Service or Social Security Administration. One variation had the caller representing himself as an official of Social Security’s “Tax Refund Department,” which does not exist.

In many cases, the caller claims that rebates can be speeded along if the recipient arranges direct deposit of the rebate check. Sometimes those called are asked for a credit card number, with the caller promising “special service” to speed that refund along. Still other schemes involve an alleged Social Security Administration official asking for someone’s Social Security number, with similar promises of assistance

Giving the caller bank account information, instead of cutting any federal red tape, merely gives the scam artist access to the person’s savings. Revealing your Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal financial data can open a Pandora’s box of problems, including huge fraudulent credit charges and identity theft.

Representatives of both federal agencies say neither ever contacts people, by phone or e-mail, to make such arrangements. Any direct deposit plan is usually set up by people who elect to receive their regular Social Security checks electronically. In any case, the Social Security Administration has nothing to do with the mailing of the federal rebate checks.

The Internet is being infested with a growing number of sites that appear to be those of the Internal Revenue Service. But the domain name often ends with .com, .net or .org instead of the only suffix that identifies a legitimate government site, .gov. That was the case with my “special, limited time offer,” which even included the IRS logo, no doubt stolen from the real Web site.

That’s one picture, when used in this context, that’s worth absolutely nothing.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration, now in its 30th year, of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. Interested and motivated prospective volunteers are always needed and welcomed to apply to help with our mission. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for more information, write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor ME 04402-1329, or e-mail contacexdir@live.com.