Last year saw a 60% increase in phishing scams and Intuit, the creator of DIY tax prep and filing software TurboTax, reported a sharp rise in the number of phishing scams reported in which the scammer pretended to be TurboTax to get marks to upload malware or reveal personal and financial information.
This particular phishing scam has grown more sophisticated over the years as the scammers can dress the email itself, the email address, and associated spoof websites up as TurboTax using similar images, and the same color palette and layout.
Here’s how the scam works:
A TurboxTax user will receive an email saying that their refund is ready, or that they need to verify their account or verify or update personal information. There will be a link included in the email. DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS IN THESE EMAILS. In many cases, it will take you to a spoof website that will upload malware onto your computer. Some will bring you to a site that prompts you to enter personal identifying and financial information for “verification” purposes. The actual purpose is to harvest your credit card and bank account information, your social security number, and other data that can be sold or used directly for fraudulent purposes.
The bulk of these TurboTax phishing scams target people who have not yet filed their taxes. If you receive an email prompting your to verify or update your account or information, or prompting you to file your taxes after you have already filed, there is a 100% chance that it’s a scam. Other giveaways that you have been contacted by a con artist are misspellings and grammar errors, email addresses that slightly misspell TurboTax like spelling it Turb0 with a zero, or Tarbo, and the like. The email host may be different. If the link within the email is similar to the actual TurboTax website but slightly off, that’s not a mistake on their part. It’s a scam.
If you receive a suspicious email, never click on any links within the message or reveal any personal financial situation. However, unlike the IRS, TurboTax does contact customers via email. If it actually is TurboTax contacting you, it’s important. If you receive an email that appears to be from this company, open up a new browser page and go directly to their website
https://turbotax.intuit.com/ and log into your account to see if the issue is real. Contact the company through your account on the actual website and just leave the suspicious email alone.
Talk to your friends about tax scams that you have heard of or encountered. Report incidents to the IRS, to TurboTax, and to law enforcement. If you have any suspicions, contact me at
Mignolet@Bellsouth.net for a deeper investigation into what’s really going on within the wires.
