Friday, August 10, 2018

Phishing on Tax Professionals


There’s a new phishing scam going around, and this time it’s targeting tax professionals.

How this dangerous scam works is that a scammer pretends to be affiliated with a state accounting association. The scammer then emails the tax professional, trying to get that person to disclose his username and password. Usually, the scammer provides a link where the person can “sign in,” but really, the victim will, in actuality, be providing private and sensitive information to a scammer.     


Protecting Yourself

To keep yourself from falling victim to a scammer, be aware of the latest scams, such as this one. Keeping up with the news, like you’re doing right now, and educating yourself is the first step in self-protection.

Also, if you do get an email like the one described above, do not click on the link, do not open any attachments, and do not reply. Instead, report the matter to the IRS by forwarding the email to phishing@irs.gov.

If you’d like to check to see if the email was legitimate, you can always email the actual professional organization you are a part of. In fact, it is a good idea to let that organization know it is being used as part of the scam.

Other steps you can take to protect yourself and your information include:

l  Being aware that the IRS does not contact people via email
l  Having a data security plan in place
l  Having anti-malware and anti-virus programs on all work computers and mobile devices
l  Having complex passwords that are not easy to guess
l  Using encryption for sensitive files and emails
l  Regularly backing up sensitive information in a secure external place
l  Destroying old hard drives, printers, and other devices that could contain sensitive information
l  Reporting any data theft or suspected data theft to the IRS immediately

A Widespread Scam

So far, reports of this specific scam have popped up in Illinois, new Jersey, Iowa, and North Carolina. Thus, you will want to be particularly careful if you live in one of these states.

However, phishing and scamming can and do happen everywhere, so protect yourself no matter where you live.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I welcome your comments here :)