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.
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