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IRS Warns Of 400% Flood In Phishing and Malware This Tax Year Alone (networkworld.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the its-tax-season dept.

coondoggie writes: There has been a 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents in this tax season alone, the Internal Revenue Service warned this week. According to the IRS, there have been thousands of phony emails aimed at fooling taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including from many tax software companies.

17 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Easy fix. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A flat tax, where anyone could file their taxes on a postcard size form, would pretty much do away with this problem.

    1. Re:Easy fix. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Low income people are going to have a riot over that suggestion, just like they're practically rioting over the "smart" electric meters because they snitch when you steal power. I have family in Detroit... you know, lower class. Everyone there uses the tried and true method of I have no W2s or 1099s, so I just put down $500 in the "other income" section and check "head of household" and suddenly you qualify for a several thousand dollar rebate, earned income credit, etc. The Michigan Dept of Treasury finally got wise to this gig, and they will flag you for audit and hold your refund until you submit a legitimate W2. But the IRS is still dolling out those checks like the Publishers Clearinghouse.

    2. Re:Easy fix. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Calculating the tax is pretty near the easiest thing about doing your taxes.....you look up the number in the tax table and if you do it wrong, the IRS will correct it for you.
      The difficult part is figuring out what counts as income, and where to report that income.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:Easy fix. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      You hire an accountant. Or use the tax calculation worksheet.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:Easy fix. by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I recommend everyone look into incorporation. This doesn't necessitate hiring a lawyer and an accountant but, done properly, it can often lead to having enough extra money to do both and still be keeping more of your income (legally) than before.

      That and, well, this flat tax idea is pretty stupid. I pay just about 23% on capital gains. I have *no* taxable income. I really don't. I, personally, have no taxably income. 23% isn't a very high percentage. That'd really suck if you're taxably income is something like $20,000. That's ¼ of your income. Yes, it's ¼ of my capital gains. However, I've got more than $15,200 left.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  2. An increase in phishing? by edibobb · · Score: 3

    I wonder what brought that on.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    1. Re:An increase in phishing? by portwojc · · Score: 1

      Plays into this too...

      http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/03/sign-up-at-irs-gov-before-crooks-do-it-for-you/

      Someone thought it would be a bright idea to have online registration with the IRS. So now people will think it's more legit if they did sign up. So that email could have more of a chance to be taken seriously...

    2. Re:An increase in phishing? by Llamalarity · · Score: 2

      Got my first from the 'IRS' a week ago, so I have seen an increase. Email address was in the UK which in hindsight probably would be an improvement:) Filled it in with gibberish and profanities and when I submitted it they complained that I was not excepting cookies.

  3. you mean that *Enforcement Action* call i got? by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    my cousin Vinnie took care of it.

  4. The IRS sucks at maths by Cigaes · · Score: 2

    Someone should teach the IRS never to use variation percentages outside the -50% – +100% range.

    And unsurprisingly, they got it wrong: “1,026 up from 254 from a year earlier”, that makes roughly ×4, i.e. +300%; +400% is ×5.

    Well, it could just be just the journalist that sucks at maths. At the very least, he did not check the figures.

  5. How clueless does one have to be..... by mark-t · · Score: 1

    ... to fall for a scam like this?

    The IRS does not and would not *EVER* request any information that is confidential between you and the IRS to be sent via email.

    I'm not sure that the IRS even uses email to contact taxpayers at all, although if they did, it would probably be for things that are irrelevant to the matter of filing taxes, like maybe informing them of new services or something similar.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:How clueless does one have to be..... by dlt074 · · Score: 1

      you'd also think they would NEVER be the enforcer of health care law either... but they are.

      the only way to win, is eliminate the IRS.

    2. Re:How clueless does one have to be..... by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      ... to fall for a scam like this?

      The IRS does not and would not *EVER* request any information that is confidential between you and the IRS to be sent via email.

      I bet many people don't completely understand the nuances in distinction between transacting official communications over email, and calculating/filing your taxes on a website/electronically. If you can expect to get in swift and certain trouble for impersonating a police officer, wouldn't you assume that the IRS/FBI can similarly prosecute people who impersonate a government agency via electronic communications?

      On another note, why couldn't they have put investigative/prosecutory powers like that into something like the TPP? That would at least have been useful.

  6. Re:The crooks in D.C. hate competition. by ausekilis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're free to move to some island and pay for your own municipal parks, roads, sewage/recycling/garbage collection. Not to mention zoos, aquariums, wildlife refuges, national parks. You can also stand up your own one-man military.

    Don't get me wrong, I think my tax dollars are grossly misappropriated and I'd rather not be paying many senators salaries... but to make the blanket statement that tax is theft is to ignore all those things that your taxes cover to make your life better.

  7. 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents by tetraverse · · Score: 1

    What was the breakdown in terms of desktop Operating Systems in relation to these phishing and malware attacks?

  8. Re:Tax? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    It's illegal to pay taxes

    You better hope not, because it's also illegal to skip paying taxes. So if you are right, you're going to jail because there's no way to avoid it.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  9. Re:The crooks in D.C. hate competition. by KGIII · · Score: 1

    Please do me a favor, if you can. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, stuff this away: They're not a Libertarian. They're a Randian or an Embarrassed Republican who has co-opted the moniker.

    It might be hard to tuck that away, they are a noisy bunch. But, as I've explained many times, liberty is the actual ideal for Libertarians. That's for all, not for a select or wealthy few. If it's only for a select few, chance are that it's not anything more than abuse under the guise of liberty.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."