Scams Increase During U.S. Tax Season

Scams based on the United States Internal Revenue Service requirements increase every year during tax season. It’s common to see online threats and tactics in which identity thieves and hackers try to convince taxpayers to reveal their personal and financial information. This year is no exception.

Researchers at McAfee Labs continuously monitor threats to best protect our customers. We have identified a cluster of fake IRS URLs. Victims might visit these phishing and malicious websites via any number of effective redirection methods: phishing attacks, forum postings, and black-hat search-engine optimizations, among others. However, a few simple precautions will help you avoid identity theft during tax season. If you get an email from the IRS, it’s probably a scam. The IRS does NOT usually contact taxpayers via email. Avoid replying or clicking on links that take you to suspicious sites. You should delete these messages.

The numbers of fake irs.gov domains hosting phishing sites already surpass last year’s:

McAfee customers are protected from malicious sites with high-risk reputations thanks to our TrustedSource technology.

Here is an example of how McAfee SiteAdvisor Technology and the McAfee TrustedSource™ reputation system protect users from cyberfraudsters. Malicious phishing attacks are blocked when they trying to steal consumers’ information:

The IRS Consumer Alert page says “The IRS does not send taxpayers unsolicited email about their tax accounts, tax situations, or personal tax issues.” To verify whether the IRS is trying to contact you, call the agency.