The Internal Revenue Service sent a reminder to dealers this week that had nothing to do with filing tax returns or sending mandated funds to the federal government.
Considering the recent ransomware attack aimed at dealers, the IRS is warning individuals and businesses to remain vigilant against these attacks, especially when criminals portray themselves as representatives from the federal agency.
Officials reiterated that fraudsters and identity thieves attempt to trick the recipient into clicking a suspicious link, filling out personal and financial information or downloading a malware file onto their computer.
“Scammers are relentless in their attempts to obtain sensitive financial and personal information, and impersonating the IRS remains a favorite tactic,” the IRS said in a news release. “The IRS urges car dealerships to be extra cautious about unsolicited messages and avoid clicking any links in an unsolicited email or text if they are uncertain.”
The IRS acknowledged that it continues to see a barrage of email and text scams targeting businesses and individual taxpayers.
The IRS and the Security Summit partners continued to remind taxpayers, businesses and tax professionals to be alert for a wide variety of these scams and schemes.
“Businesses such as car dealerships should remain alert for targeted email and text scams aimed to disrupt their computer systems,” the IRS said.
“These businesses should be alert to fake…
