The Internal Revenue Service has warned tax professionals of a phishing scam in which emails emulate contacts from tax software providers. Those who click on a bogus link download a piece of software that can track their computer keystrokes. 

The link is designed to trick recipients into providing information such as passwords, Social Security numbers or credit card numbers.

In this case, recipients who click on the embedded link are directed to a website prompting them to download a file appearing to be an update of their software packages. The file has a naming convention that uses the actual name of their software followed by an ".exe extension."

The keystroke tracking is designed to capture login information, passwords and other sensitive data. However, the IRS says it is aware only of a few incidents involving this technique.

The IRS urges practitioners not to click on links or open attachments in email and to always utilize a software provider's main webpage to connect to them. They should also run a security "deep scan" to search for viruses and software and to strengthen passwords.