The holiday season is here, and that means hunting season to scam artists.

Their favorite weapons: Telemarketing and the Internet.

This week, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six warned the public about someone making phone calls claiming to be raising money for the Kansas Amber Alert program. Donations were sought by cash, check or credit card.

Amber Alert, however, is not conducting a fundraising solicitation program, Six said. Amber Alert is used to notify the public about missing or abducted children. The AG’s office oversees the program.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers about the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scammers trying to steal identities and assets.

“We’re getting reports of people receiving official looking e-mail that claims to be from the IRS,” said Michael Devine, IRS spokesman for Kansas and Missouri.

The e-mail tells recipients to open a link or attachment to get their 2008 economic stimulus payment or tax refund, Devine said.

If you open such a link or attachment, it should be scanned for viruses and spyware. You also should monitor financial accounts because malicious spyware may have been downloaded, Divine said.

The Amber Alert calls were first reported to law enforcement agencies in Osage County, Six said. There were additional reports coming in Wednesday, AG spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett said. None was from Lawrence or Douglas County, she and local law enforcement agencies said.

The IRS never sends unsolicited e-mails about an individual’s taxes, Divine said. It also doesn’t use e-mail to ask for personal and financial information such as Social Security, bank account, credit card or personal identification numbers, he said. To get a 2007 federal tax return is all you need to do to get a stimulus payment if you are eligible, he said.

Taxpayers can help the IRS stop scammers by sending the original e-mail to phishing@irs.gov. The e-mail must be forwarded using special instructions at www.irs.gov or it loses the encoding to track it to its source, Devine said. The IRS Web site has information about scams in the link “Phishing and e-mail Scams.”

In Kansas, consumer complaints increase between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Six said. Additional information about scams can be found at the attorney general’s Web site, www.ksag.org.

Investigating telephone scams “can be challenging” even with a caller identification number, spokeswoman Anstaett said. But filing a complaint with AG’s office will help investigators establish a pattern in tracking down the callers, she said.