In the last month or so, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of tax related spam emails (you might want to read this post about email scams) I get.
I use the word spam, because I didn’t request the information, nor have I used many of the tax programs that are allegedly sending me emails. I’ve ignored them for the most part, but the other day I decided to investigate and what I found was far more insidious than I originally thought.
This isn’t a case of legitimate tax software companies targeting me with spam emails. Reputable companies tend to not send you emails if you didn’t somehow opt-in to receive their email updates. They also didn’t appear to be affiliates trying to direct me to use the official tax software, although that’s what I had originally thought.
No, the samples I reviewed are pure evil.
These are scammers that are sending emails posing as legitimate tax software companies, and have created good looking websites in an attempt to capture your information and steal your money.
Let me share an example of one of the emails I received that claimed to be from TaxACT, a very reputable tax software company. I’ve tried out their product in the past and found they have a solid online tax product (although I personally prefer another). The emails I’ve been receiving supposedly from “TaxACT,” are in fact not from them at all.
How can I tell? Well, there’s the usual sign: the sender address is not from the TaxACT.com domain. But there are others too…
The email used a picture taken straight from the TaxACT website to make me think I was looking at legitimate information. After clicking the link to see the product offerings, I saw a set of four products called EasyTax, or something similar. They had a logo eerily similar to Intuit’s TurboTax. In fact, it even says “from Intuit, the makers of TurboTax.”
Now, just in case you don’t know, Intuit and TaxACT are NOT the same company.
The scammers are just hoping something will look familiar and safe, so they’re throwing everything recognizable at you. I’m sure if you were to select one of the fictitious products and proceed, they would be more than happy to gather some of your personal data and/or try to install a virus on your computer.
So, what can you do about these emails? Protect yourself with the following steps:
- Make sure your computer is current with security updates and virus scan and anti spam software
- Mark them as spam and move on. There’s nothing you can do to stop these emails from coming other than to simply block them. DO NOT respond directly to the email; doing so simply lets them know your email address is valid.
- If you are interested in using tax software program, then just go straight to the website of the company you’re considering.
Those are just a few tips to keep you safe, but the list really could go on and on.
Now, by no means am I trying to scare you out of using online tax software. I personally used TurboTax online this year and finished my taxes in a couple of hours. Truliant actually provides safe and secure access to TurboTax from within Online Banking. Plus our member-owners get a 15% discount.
If you’ve never used online software to file your taxes you might like to read one of my first blog posts titled “My Transition to Online Tax Filing.”
About the Author: Chad Scribner has a background in Web development and is the manager of eServices at Truliant.
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