Beware of IRS or Tax Refund Phishing Scams

The Internal Revenue Service has recently issued consumer warnings on the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by Internet scammers trying to gain access to consumers' financial information.  These attempts are called phishing and used to steal your identity and assets.  With the recent Legislative activity surrounding the federal economic stimulus plan to give taxpayers an additional rebate, there is added confusion and potential for abuse against the unwary or naïve. DON'T BE ONE OF THEM!

Scores of fake Internet sites tempt users with schemes posing as IRS or Tax Refund sites and asking for updated information so refunds can be processed.  The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail about tax account matters to individual, business, tax-exempt or other taxpayers. If you get one, it's a scam.

There are dozens of these phishing scams making the rounds by email and they are all intended steal your personal information.  Instead of clicking on that e-mail, simply hit the delete key.  Click here for more information from the IRS.

Here's a news article on the issue

REMEMBER - THE IRS DOES NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO TAXPAYERS.

Please pass this information to your Users, family and friends

Valentine's Day Vulnerability - They Don't Really Love You

With Valentine's Day coming in the next couple of weeks, we expect to begin seeing malicious virus and worm software popping into email inboxes across the state.  Just like the Dancing Skeletons at Halloween and Singing Elves at Christmas, there are already reports of worms spreading as bait to the naïve and unwary.  

The threat vector for these worms is typically an email with a subject like 'I Love You Soooo Much,' 'Inside My Heart', 'You're In My Dreams', 'Searching for True Love' or 'True Love'.  The email may look like a romantic greeting card with a large pink heart in the text of the email and a link to a website or may have a file attached named 'friends4u'.   If you click on the link or download the attachment, the dastardly deed is done and the worm will infect your computer and send the same email (with infected worm of course) to all the email contact addresses in the Users computer.

Not only is this embarrassing, it will endear you to all your friends and contacts who you have now infected as well as your poor, overworked System Administrator who must take time out to clean up your computer.  Please take the time to warm your Users of this potential threat.