It happens every spring. With tax time upon us, malware authors are pumping out a sophisticated wave of phishing e-mails try to lure taxpayers to click on a bogus link in an effort to swipe their sensitive personal information.
SonicWall, a security software vendor, issued a warning about the latest phishing scheme, which instructs recipients that to click on a link to claim their refund in a ruse to gather personal and financial information.
Just as in years past, the IRS has set up an online resource center warning users about potential scams, and reminds the public that it never sends out e-mails to individual taxpayers.
eSecurity Planet has the story on the latest tax time malware campaign.
Security software vendor SonicWall delivered some predictable bad news to Internet users and procrastinating income tax filers this week, warning that a new crop of sophisticated phishing attacks are using the upcoming IRS tax filing deadline as a lure to extract people’s most sensitive personal and banking information.
SonicWall officials said the new scam comes in the form of an unsolicited e-mail with a subject suggesting that IRS tax refunds are now available for those who click on the accompanying link and follow the missive’s directions.
Those who succumb to the appeal of a quick or perhaps undeserved income tax refund are then prompted to provide bank card and identity information including Social Security numbers so the promised refund can be deposited into their accounts.