Another Phishing Expedition

Taxpayers need to be on the lookout for another slick e-mail scam. This one is centered on using the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) as a scare tactic to get a taxpayer’s personal information. The e-mail scam has a few variations but typically looks like this:


From: Internal Revenue Service

Date: July 19, 2010 7:48:08 AM EDT

To:

Subject: W-2 form update

We would like to inform you that as of the 16th of June

you are late in updating your W-2 form submition with the new

updated version. Please send us your completed W-2 update form

by 01/07/2010. The updated version of the W-2 form is attached

to this message.



Internal Revenue Service



If you notice the word “submission” is spelled wrong. Misspellings are usually a good sign that an e-mail is a scam. The dates are another dead give away. The most important thing to know is that the IRS does NOT send out e-mail notification in this manner. If you receive an e-mail similar to this one, be sure to send it to the IRS.



The Tech Accountant