The holidays and tax season are a great opportunity for scammers to try stealing personal information through fake emails that contain Emotet Malware. Emotet Malware has been labeled among the most costly and destructive malware that is affecting the state, local, tribal and territorial governments. Scammers attempt to obtain personal, financial or tax information such as usernames and passwords by pretending to be another person or entity. These emails may appear to be real by using spoofed email addresses and stolen logos to trick the recipient into believing that the email is from a trusted source. Watch your inbox for emails that pretend to come from “IRS Online” that contain attachments named “Tax Account Transcripts” or some variation phrase containing the words “tax transcript”. If you have received an email like this and feel that it is from scammers please DO NOT OPEN, and immediately forward the email directly to phishing@irs.gov. Completing this simple step can protect yourself during the holiday season and at tax time.
The IRS never sends unsolicited emails to the public and would never send sensitive documents via email.