IRS Warns of Scams

Based on consumer reports, the IRS reports that phishing and malware schemes targeting US consumers have rocketed this tax season – claiming that it has seen an “approximate 400 percent surge”.

Official-looking communications are being received by consumers, claiming to come from the IRS and companies that develop accounts software and provide services for assisting in the preparation of tax returns.

The criminals are not always just looking for personal info so that they can file false IRS returns. Some fraudsters are also attacking computer users with malicious emails that link to websites harboring keylogging spyware.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has warned users to be wary of unexpected tax-related emails in their inbox:

“This dramatic jump in these scams comes at the busiest time of tax season. Watch out for fraudsters slipping these official-looking emails into inboxes, trying to confuse people at the very time they work on their taxes. We urge people not to click on these emails.”

The criminals are looking for a bountiful year as last year the criminals breached as many as 334,000 accounts.

Here is just one of the examples of scams seen this week, posing as message from TurboTax, and urging unsuspecting customers into clicking on a dangerous link in order to “reactivate” their account.



Source: Hot For Security