Matters associated with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) catch your attention. Hackers are counting on that and use it as part of the manipulation and social engineering to lure you into their schemes.

The IRS is not sending you email:

“In the first scam, the email claims to come from the IRS Criminal Investigation division. It says that the victim is under investigation for filing a false tax return. An attachment to the email, which appears to be the IRS’s complaint, actually installs malicious software that gives the criminals access to the victim’s PC.”

link: Email scammers hiding malware in fake IRS notices

There may be malware attached to that email or a link that sends you to a phishing site. The goal of this spoofing is to access your identification information and, ultimately, your finances.

If the real IRS wants your attention, undoubtedly the agency knows how to find you. It will not be through a surprise email.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: irs, hackers, social engineering, email, malware, phishing, spoofing