Posted at 10:57 a.m., Monday, June 4, 2007
IRS warns taxpayers of 'Trojan Horse' e-mail scam
Advertiser Staff
The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers of the latest e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing that they are under investigation by the agency's criminal investigation division.The e-mail states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Tax Board. People receiving the e-mail are asked to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more about the complaint against them.
The IRS said the e-mail link and attachment are "Trojan Horses" that can take over a person's computer hard drive and allow someone remote access to the computer. The latest scam is targeted at businesses as well as individuals.
Recipients of the e-mail should not open the attachments or the link. Instead, the IRS asks that the e-mail be forwarded phishing@irs.gov.