March 23, 2023 By Christopher Boyd
Tax season is upon us and, as with every year, we're seeing tax scammers rearing their heads.
Below, we have an example of a tax scam currently in circulation along with some suggestions for avoiding these kinds of attacks.
An IRS W-9 tax form scam
A Form W-9 is a form you fill in to confirm certain personal details with the IRS. Name, address, and Tax Identification Number are all things you can expect to fill in on one of these forms.
In this case, the Form W-9 is being used as a lure for people to download something sinister. Our Senior Director of Threat Intelligence, Jerome Segura, found an email being sent out with the title of “IRS Tax Forms W-9” which appears to have been sent from “IRS Online Center”. The email, which contains an attachment and very little text, looks like this:
