Payroll and HR employees beware of this tax season scam

Tax season is coming up, and many of you are on the lookout for your W2’s. Well, so are the scammers.

A W2 is like a golden ticket for scammers with personal information like your address and social security number. So,how are the bad guys getting their hands on them?

They use spoofing techniques to disguise an email and making it seem like it’s from a company executive in your own company.

The email is sent to an employee in either payroll or human resources, requesting a list of employees and their W2’s.

It might even say something like “We need to double check or review the forms before sending them out.”

Carrie Kerskie, identity theft expert says not to send anything until you’ve had verbal confirmation with that person, “Pick up the phone, walk down the hall to the office, and say I just want to make sure, did you send me this email before I send all this sensitive information?”

You’ll also want to watch for emails claiming to be the IRS.

Those might say things like ‘”click here to check the status of your refund,” then ask for your social security or pin number to login to a fake site.

Should you fall victim to one of these scams, file a complaint with the FBI’s internet crime complaint center.