Taxing authorities says that a scam aimed at obtaining employee W-2s emails from the corporate world has spread to other sector,s including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits. The email-based phishing is also being combined with an older wire transfer scheme."This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we've seen in a long time,: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a prepared statement. "It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns."
Under the latest phishing forays, criminals utilize techniques such as spoofing emails from organization executives. Such emails requests employees in the payroll or human resources department send them a list of all employees and W-2s.
Business that received scamming attempts last year are being targeted again.
Employees with access to W-2s are also receiving follow up emails from senders impersonating executives asking wire transfers. Some companies have lost both W-2s and thousands of dollars.