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Phishing Messages Using Tax Day to Lure You In

April 12, 2013

Recent phishing attempts are purporting to be from the IRS to trick users into compromising personal and financial information.

A number of colleges and universities have recently reported fraudulent emails purporting to be from the IRS that attempt to trick users into providing personal and financial information to a scam artist.  Phishing can be most effective when coupled with a current event, such as the deadline for filing taxes, a natural disaster, a political election, etc.

 

The IRS has released an official statement claiming that the IRS “does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information.”  For more details, please see the official IRS website.

 

For more information on what to do about phishing attempts, you can view a previous article here.

 

ISC Information Security also maintains a Phishing Archive where recent phishing attempts that have been observed and reported are listed.  But if you have any concerns about an email, please feel free to forward it to itshelp@law.upenn.edu.