W-2 that contain Social Security numbers and other
personally identifiable information to cybercriminals posing as company
executives.
IRS Criminal Investigation already is reviewing several
cases in which people have been tricked into sharing SSNs with what turned out
to be cybercriminals. Criminals using personal information stolen elsewhere
seek to monetize data, including by filing fraudulent tax returns for refunds.
This phishing variation is known as a spoofing email. It will contain, for example, the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this variation, the CEO sends an email to a company payroll office employee and requests a list of employees and information including SSNs.
The following are some of the details contained in the
e-mails:
Kindly send me the individual 2015
W-2 (PDF) and earnings summary of
all W-2 of our company staff for a quick review.
Can you send me the updated list
of employees with full details
(Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Home
Address, Salary).
I want you to send me the list of
W-2 copy of employees wage and tax
statement for 2015, I need them in PDF file type, you can
send it as an attachment. Kindly prepare the lists and email them to me asap.
The IRS recently renewed a wider consumer alert for
e-mail schemes after seeing an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and
malware incidents so far this tax season and other reports of scams targeting
others in a wider tax community.
FYI this is a repost that i believe is interest to readers of my blog.