WASHINGTON, DC — The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to beware of several current e-mail and telephone scams that use the IRS name as a lure. The IRS expects such scams to continue through the end of tax return filing season and beyond.

The IRS cautioned taxpayers to be on the lookout for scams involving proposed advance payment checks. Although the government has not yet enacted an economic stimulus package in which the IRS would provide advance payments, known informally as rebates to many Americans, a scam which uses the proposed rebates as bait has already cropped up.

The goal of the scams is to trick people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, which the scammers can use to commit identity theft.

Typically, identity thieves use a victim’s personal and financial data to empty the victim’s financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name, file fraudulent tax returns or even commit crimes. Most of these fraudulent activities can be committed electronically from a remote location, including overseas. Committing these activities in cyberspace allows scamsters to act quickly and cover their tracks before the victim becomes aware of the theft.

People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years — and their hard-earned money — cleaning up the mess thieves have made of their reputations and credit records. In the meantime, victims may lose job opportunities, may be refused loans, education, housing or cars, or even get arrested for crimes they didn’t commit. Read the full story

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue Theatre will perform “The Underpants,” a Steve Martin adaptation of a play originally written by German playwright Carl Sternheim in 1910, Feb. 14-24 in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-16; at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17; at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21-22; at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and at 3 p.m. Feb. 24.

“The setting is Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1910,” said Russ Jones, Division of Theatre chair. “A young housewife’s underpants fall down as the king’s parade passes, attracting the attention of two men who become infatuated with her as a result. Their amorous intentions are in contrast to the wrath of her husband over the incident. They become renters of a room in her house and secretly woo her. She grows to like the attention, but also grows in the power and knowledge of her femininity. Steve Martin has once again given us a serious message wrapped in high comedy.”

A special “Preview for Lovers” show of “The Underpants” will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in honor of Valentine’s Day, Jones said. Read the full story

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Four Purdue University theater students won regional honors at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Region III Festival this month.

Chris Holland, a master of fine arts candidate from Aliquippa, Pa., was the Region III winner of the Barbizon Award for Theatrical Design Excellence in Lighting for “The Women of Troy.” He also received an honorable mention for Regional Lighting Design Project for “Titus Andronicus.”

Shelby Newport, a master of fine arts candidate from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was the winner of the Barbizon Award for Theatrical Design Excellence in Costumes for “The Women of Troy.”

Both Holland and Newport will attend the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in April in Washington, D.C.

Jake Mahler, a master of fine arts candidate from Minnetonka, Minn., won the Irene Ryan Acting Judges Award for Best Musical Performer.

Rebecca Bezaire, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts from Dublin, Ohio, won second place in the Kennedy Center Stage Management Award for “Six Degrees of Separation.”

Russ Jones, the Purdue Theatre Department chair, said the university did well at the festival, with Purdue students making up five of the 19 finalists in the national-eligible design category, with 45 participating universities. Out of 250 actors participating, three of the 16 finalists in the Irene Ryan Acting category also were from Purdue, Jones said.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which started in 1969, is a national theater education program that identifies and promotes quality in college-level theater production. In January and February of each year, eight regional festivals showcase the finest of each region’s entered productions and offer a variety of activities, including workshops, symposia and regional-level award programs.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — HealthyPurdue is offering wellness screening appointments at Johnson Hall B-5 and other locations on the West Lafayette campus in February. Benefit-eligible faculty and staff, official Purdue retirees, and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners are eligible for one free wellness screening per calendar year. Graduate staff are also eligible for a free wellness screening per calendar year. Graduate staff spouses or same-sex domestic partners may complete an annual wellness screening for $20. Participants must bring their Purdue ID at the time of the screening.

Purdue’s School of Nursing will offer screenings on the following days:

– Feb. 1. 8:30-11:30 a.m., 1-3 p.m. Mann Building, Room 203.
– Feb. 8. 8:10-11:30 a.m., 1-3:20 p.m. JNSN, Room B-5.
– Feb. 11-13. 10:30-11:30 a.m., 1-3:30 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 15. 8:30-11:10 a.m., 1-3 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 18. 8:10-11:30 a.m., 1-3:20 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 19. 1:30-3:20 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 20. 8:10-11:30 a.m., 1-3:20 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 22. 8:30-11:10 a.m., 1-3 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 25, 8:10-11:30 a.m., 1-3:20 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 26. 8:10-11:30 a.m., 1-3:20 p.m. JNSN B-5.
– Feb. 29. 8:30-11:10 a.m., 1-3 p.m. JNSN B-5.

StayWell Health Management, will offer screening appointments on the following days:

– Feb. 8. 8:30-11:30 a.m., 1-3:30 p.m. STEW 302.
– Feb. 9. 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. STEW 302.

Register for an appointment at www.purdue.edu/worklife or call 49-45461.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue employees can use their health plan benefits to cover the wellness screening requirement for Healthy Purdue’s HealthPath Questionnaire.

Although free wellness screenings are available through campus screening events, participants can also have their screening done at a primary care physician’s office, often at little or no cost.

For a preventive visit, the following benefits apply:

• Incentive PPO and Purdue 500: Employees and their covered dependents each receive an annual $400 benefit for preventive care, which may be used with in-network providers. This amount is not subject to the deductible or co-insurance.

Annual in-network preventive care beyond $400 is subject to the in-network deductible and coinsurance. All preventive care through out-of-network providers is subject to the out-of-network deductible and coinsurance.

• UnitedHealthcare: Coverage includes in-network preventive care benefits. Preventive screenings performed by a primary care physician would be subject to a $15 copay.

It is important that employees inform their medical provider about the preventive care benefit so that the service will be coded as preventive rather than medical. This is key to having the claim paid correctly.

Additional information about preventive health benefits can be found through www.purdue.edu/benefits/med.htm.

More information about the HealthPath Questionnaire and screenings is available at the Healthy Purdue Web site at www.purdue.edu/healthypurdue.

A form listing the screening results participants will need from their health care provider can be downloaded at the site by following the “Forms” link.

Those wishing to take advantage of campus screening events should contact their campus wellness program:

* West Lafayette: (765) 494-5461, worklife@purdue.edu
* Calumet: (219) 989-2709, lowry@calumet.purdue.edu
* Fort Wayne: (260) 481-6647, tillapau@ipfw.edu
* North Central: (219) 785-5519, tlaux@pnc.edu