With tax season here, tax scams are here too! And of course theyare online! The latest tax-related scams out there is spreading via email.
The emails claim to be from Intuit ( security@intuit.com) with a subject header that says something sorta like “Urgent update of tax information is requested” or “Tax information required within 30 days.” It may look like this:
Dear Account Holder,
In our continuing effort to guarantee that exact data is being sustained on our systems, as well as to provide you better quality of service; INTUIT INC. has participated in the Internal Revenue Service [IRS] Name and TIN Matching Program.
We have discovered, that your name and/or Taxpayer Identification Number, that is stated on your account does not correspond to the data on file with the Social Security Administration.
In order to check the data on your account, please click here.
Regards,
INTUIT INC.
Corporate Headquarters
2632 Marine Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
There are a few variations on this but the idea is that they want you to confirm your tax identification number. Don’t. Don’t even think about it. Don’t click on any links and don’t give out your personal information. Period. The link likely contains a virus.
The emails that came our way were from an address in marked as “an abusable web server” by spam filters. The address was also flagged by Barracuda Reputation System, and is listed on the Barracuda Reputation Block List, a free DNSBL of IP addresses known to send spam.
If you get one of these, best to delete it. If you’re not sure, you can forward any suspicious emails purporting to be from Intuit to the company directly via spoof@intuit.com.
(Author’s update: I contacted the folks at Intuit who advised that you can find out more about these scams through their corporate security web site, security.intuit.com.