As if tax season wasn’t stressful enough already.
IBM has warned people to be careful of new scams this tax season, as scammers are using tax-themed emails in order to trick people into infecting their own computers with malware. The emails are sent out randomly and target both professional and personal email addresses. Inside the email itself, scammers make use of prominent HR and payroll firms like ADP and Paychex to fool users into thinking that they’re the real deal.
Upon first glance, these emails may seem like your normal tax emails, but look closer, especially at the attachments included in the email. Don’t even think of clicking any of these files, as they could instantly wreak havoc by secretly delivering a macro command on your computer. Although they might look harmless, these emails actually contain a trojan called Trickbot, which was created to steal bank account information through your various internet sessions.
The scariest thing about these scam emails is that unlike most emails of this kind, they’re not littered with spelling errors and typos that can instantly alert users that something may be wrong. They also use legitimate-looking email addresses, which could fool even the most tech-savvy of users.
IBM tells users to disable macros by default on Office documents, which could help them stay safe in case they end up accidentally clicking an attachment like the ones in these scam emails.
