Tax agencies are warning professionals about scam emails from people posing as clients soliciting their services. Accounting and tax preparation firms are being solicited nationally in an attempt to collect information for preparing fake returns.The current scam starts with email that asks questions such as "I need a preparer to file my taxes."
If a preparer responds, a second email arrives that typically contains an embedded web address or contains a PDF attachment that has an embedded web address. In some cases, the emails are from what appears to be a legitimate individual or organization whose address has been spoofed.
If information is downloaded, the phisher collects the preparer's email address and password and possibly other information.
The Internal Revenue Service urges firms and professionals to create policies or obtain expert recommendations on dealing with security issues. The agency also warns that recipients should not respond to or clink on a link in an unsolicited email or PDF attachment.