A New Tax Season, but the Same W-2 Spear Phishing Scam

By David Kitchen and David M. Brown on January 22, 2018 Posted in Phishing

According to the IRS, the IRS saw the number of businesses, public schools, universities, tribal governments and nonprofits victimized by W-2 scams increase to 200 in 2017 from 50 in 2016. Those 200 victims translated into several hundred thousand employees whose sensitive data was stolen. In some cases, the criminals requested both the W-2 information … Continue Reading

Tax Season Is in Full Swing: Beware of the W-2 Spear Phishing Scam

By Patrick H. Haggerty on January 13, 2017 Posted in Phishing

Last year we saw an unprecedented number of companies of all sizes fall victim to a W-2 spear phishing scam. The scam usually began with a “spoofing” email that appeared to have been sent by a company’s CEO or CFO to one or more employees in the human resources or payroll department. The email typically … Continue Reading

Digital Currency Exchange Customers Targeted in IRS Information-Gathering Sweep

By Carol Van Cleef, Jeffrey H. Paravano and Jay R. Nanavati on November 21, 2016 Posted in Financial Privacy

Coinbase, one of the largest digital currency exchange companies in the world, will likely be asked to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with transactional data and other information on all U.S. customers who used its services over a three-year period. Using what is known as a “John Doe” summons, the IRS has formally requested … Continue Reading