Just because death and taxes are a certainty, it does not mean that individual and business taxpayers need fall prey to the growing raft of tax-related scams that experts have seen recently.
Cybercrime rings have utilized a variety of tricky email- and online-based approaches to steal privileged data or funds, or just to infiltrate the networks of their victims, under the guise of the IRS.
“Not all tax-themed campaigns spoof the IRS, but of course, doing so provides the threat actor with a level of perceived authority,” said Joseph Gallop, intelligence analysis manager for Cofense, whose analysts have research and discovered new tax-related attack vectors.
“If email users are properly trained to recognize phishing emails, however, spoofing the IRS can work against the threat actor,” Gallop added.
The IRS itself specifically states on its website that it “does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text message, or social media to request personal or financial information,” Gallop pointed out.
Despite the fact that any such communication received by taxpayers should be “immediately considered suspicious,” people still receive the news with concern.
Shirley W. Inscoe, strategic advisor for the fraud and anti-money laundering practice at Aite-Novarica Group, said that every year she has seen people “filing their…
