February 2, 2017
Contact: Danelle Gittus or Ron Leix
Phone: 517-335-2167
Cybercriminals Targeting Schools,
Restaurants, Hospitals and Others
LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan
Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and the tax industry today
issued an alert to all employers that an old Form W-2 email phishing scam has
evolved beyond the corporate world and is spreading to school districts, restaurants,
hospitals, tribal organizations, nonprofits and others.
In a related
development, the W-2 scammers are coupling their efforts to steal employee W-2
information with an older scheme on wire transfers that is victimizing some
organizations twice.
Here’s how the scam
works: Cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise an email to
make it appear as if it is from an organization executive. The email is sent to
an employee in the payroll or human resources departments, requesting a list of
all employees and their W-2 forms.
Unfortunately, the
individual receiving the email unknowingly provides the requested information
to the cybercriminal. This scam is sometimes referred to as Business Email Compromise
(BEC) or Business Email Spoofing (BES).
When employers report
W-2 thefts immediately to the IRS, the agency can take steps to help protect
employees from tax-related identity theft. As the state Treasury Department,
IRS and the tax industry enact safeguards to identify fraudulent returns filed
through scams like this, cybercriminals need more data to mimic real tax
returns.
The state Treasury
Department urges all employers to be vigilant. This W-2 scam, which first
appeared last year, is circulating earlier in the tax season and to a broader
cross-section of organizations, including school districts, tribal casinos,
chain restaurants, temporary staffing agencies, healthcare and shipping and
freight.
Businesses that
received the scam email last year also are reportedly receiving it again this
year. The Internal Revenue Service and other partners warned
of this scam’s reappearance last week but have seen an upswing in reports
in recent days.
New Twist to W-2 Scam: Companies Also Being Asked to Wire Money
In the latest twist,
the cybercriminal follows up with an “executive” email to the payroll or
comptroller and asks that a wire transfer also be made to a certain account.
Although not tax related, the wire transfer scam is being coupled with the W-2
scam email, and some companies have lost both employees’ W-2s and thousands of
dollars due to wire transfers.
The state Treasury
Department, IRS and tax industry urge all employers to share information with
their payroll, finance and human resources employees about this W-2 and wire
transfer scam. Employers should consider creating an internal policy, if one is
lacking, on the distribution of employee W-2 information and conducting wire
transfers.
Steps Employers Can Take If They See the W-2 Scam
Organizations
receiving a W-2 scam email should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and place “W2 Scam” in the
subject line. Organizations that receive the scams or fall victim to them
should file a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
(IC3).
Employees whose W-2 forms
have been stolen should review the recommended actions by the Federal Trade
Commission at www.identitytheft.gov
or the IRS at www.irs.gov/identitytheft.
The W-2 scam is just
one of several new variations that have appeared in the past year that focus on
the large-scale thefts of sensitive tax information from tax preparers,
businesses and payroll companies. Individual taxpayers also can be targets of
phishing scams, but cybercriminals seem to have evolved their tactics to focus
on mass data thefts.
Be Safe Online
In addition to
avoiding email scams during the tax season, taxpayers and tax preparers should be
leery of using search engines to find technical help with taxes or tax software.
Selecting the wrong “tech support” link could lead to a loss of data or an
infected computer.
Taxpayers searching
for a paid tax professional for tax help can use the IRS Choosing
a Tax Professional lookup tool or if taxpayers need free help can review
the Free
Tax Return Preparation Programs. Taxpayers or tax preparers looking for
tech support for their software products should go directly to the provider’s
web page.
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