Cyber Criminals Use Email from Turbo Tax To Steal From You

Tax time means another game of cat and mouse for scammers. Again, Intuit is warning that it's Turbo Tax being used in spam emails claiming to be from the company. The subject is “Turbo Tax not working for days now…” or “Turbo Tax is currently unavailable.”

If you receive an email similar to this, don’t open any attachments or click on any links. They will likely lead to nothing good. In addition, don’t forward the message to anyone. It’s best to just delete it without opening it at all. It is really never a great idea to click on an unsolicited email or text link. If you want to go to TurboTax.com, it is much safer to open a browser and type in the address or use a bookmark.

Also, make sure anti-malware software is installed on all systems and that it is kept updated. Although this will not prevent you from filling in a form with your details, if there is something in that message trying to install on your computer, the anti-malware should catch it.

Intuit has requested that anyone receiving fake emails using its name to send a copy to them as well.

Email messages like this are phishing attempts. The criminals know it is tax time in the U.S. and they will exploit it whenever possible. Turbo Tax is not the only company that has been or is likely to be used in these schemes. In fact, TaxAct reported a security incident recently where stolen passwords used on other sites, were reused for its site with some success. This reminds us to not reuse passwords across online sites. Cyber criminals will try the login combinations on various sites to see if they can get access. Unfortunately this is successful more often than anyone would think.

Therefore, it’s a great habit to change online passwords regularly. Set a reminder in your calendar and in the word of Nike, “just do it.” This is particularly important for financial accounts.

In addition, Intuit reminds users that it will not send software updates via email. So, should you receive one claiming so, it is fake and should be sent to Intuit as well.

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