TURBOTAX 2016 ONLINE HELP VERIFICATION

The company said that the email requesting the documents was spoofed to look as if it came from the CEO.

Billy Casper Golf (March 3) – On February 26, a Phishing attack compromised 2015 W-2 data for all employees.

The compromised data includes name, address, date of birth, salary information, and Social Security Number.

(March 2) – On February 3, a Phishing email compromised employee data, which included payroll and tax information. Employee addresses and birthdays were not exposed. Turner Construction Company (March 2) – A Phishing attack compromised W-2 information.The company learned of the incident during an internal audit following the public warning about such scams issued by the IRS. Main Line Health (March 1) – A Phishing email sent on February 16, spoofed to make it look as if the message came from a company executive, compromised W-2 information on all employees.(March 1) – A Phishing email sent on February 23 compromised 2015 W-2 information on employees who worked for Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc., Right Away Redy Mix, Inc., or Rock Transport, Inc. Snapchat (March 1) – A Phishing email, spoofed to look as if it came from the company CEO, compromised payroll information (W-2) for current and former employees.Seagate Technology (March 1) – A Phishing attack compromised 2015 W-2 information for all U.S.Unless noted otherwise, W-2 data means the attacks compromised some or all of the following: Names, home addresses, salary information, withholding information, and Social Security Numbers. In the list below, the organizations mentioned have publicly disclosed BEC attacks that successfully targeted W-2 or payroll information. Until organizations become more proactive in training their employees to look for the signs of this now all-too-common phishing scam, the attacks will continue into the foreseeable future,' said Nathan Sorrentino, of STEALTHbits Technologies. So, once that email shows up in the inbox of that employee in the payroll department, it’s game-on. 'No type of anti-virus can protect an organization from being the victim of this type of attack.

TURBOTAX 2016 ONLINE HELP VERIFICATION

Even better, include the IT or security team, especially if the request originated via email.Įmpowerment and verification alongside awareness training are human answers to a human problem, and they're needed because technology alone won't save a company looking to fight these types of attacks. The key is empowerment, enabling employees to question requests for sensitive data no matter the source – and training them alert key members of the organization if something feels suspicious.įurthermore, when it comes to personal or financial information, organizations should implement a policy that requires verification from a second person. But awareness programs that focus on disrupting trust between co-workers or senior staff are doomed from the start. Other attacks abuse trust by taking advantage of human nature, or specifically a person's general willingness to help.Īwareness programs are frequently cited as the answer for these types of attacks. Often, refusal isn't an option because no one wants to tell the boss no. Some of them spoof the email address of the CEO or CFO, a person with authority, causing the employee receiving the message to hesitate when it comes to denying the request. These types of attacks play on the trust relationships that exist within the company. On March 1, the Internal Revenue Service issued an alert to payroll and HR professionals about the growing trend of BEC attacks targeting W-2 and other tax related data. As 2015 rolled into 2016, that trend showed no sign of slowing. Since January, Salted Hash has kept an eye on the number of BEC (Business Email Compromise / Correspondence) attacks taking place online.īEC attacks are essentially a more focused variant of Spear Phishing, and more often than not the ultimate goal is tax information that can be used to obtain fraudulent returns.Īccording to a report released by PhishLabs earlier this year, the number of organizations targeted by BEC attacks grew tremendously in 2015, as attackers refined their techniques and sought new victims. The scams have impacted organizations both large and small, playing on fear and basic human nature in order to succeed. In the first quarter of 2016, more than three dozen businesses have been victimized by Phishing attacks targeting employee tax records.

Turbotax 2016 online help