Tax season is in full swing, and so are email scams. Chuck Rettig, IRS Commissioner notes “the holidays and tax season present great opportunities for scam artists to steal valuable information through fake e-mails”. Scammers will send emails that look like they’re coming from the IRS or business vendors and partners in the community. These scams can look incredibly real, so be cautious when opening suspicious-looking emails.
In fact, the IRS reported a huge increase in new email phishing scams that aim to steal people’s money and/or data. If you suspect you are receiving scam emails, forward them to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
While much of this applies to the general public, it is especially pertinent for employers and their payroll departments to take note. To keep you and your employees’ information private, the IRS recommends the following:
- Instruct employees to hover their cursor over hyperlinks included in e-mails they receive to view the actual URL, and ensure the URL is actually associated with the company it purports to be from.
- Instruct employees to refrain from supplying log-in credentials or personally identifying information in response to any e-mail.
- Direct employees to forward suspicious requests for personal information to the IT or HR department.
- Ensure that log-in credentials used for payroll purposes differ from those used for other purposes.
- Apply heightened scrutiny to bank information requests initiated by employees seeking to update or change direct-deposit credentials.
- Monitor employee logins that occur outside normal business hours.
- Implement two-factor authentication for access to sensitive systems and information.
If you have any questions, please contact your assigned HRBP at DecisionHR
at 1-888-828-5511.
