We live in an age where cyber security is a growing concern. As a result, your business probably has strong security measures in place to protect your customers and staff from their personal information getting into the wrong hands. However, that might not save them if your payroll personnel fall for the Form W-2 scam that has tricked more than 200 companies thus far.
The way the scam works is that the cybercriminal sends an email to whomever is in charge of IRS tax forms, namely the Form W-2 prepared for employees. They pose as someone of authority within the company and begin communications so the person is lulled into believing they are authentic. At some point, they ask the person to email them a copy of everyone’s W-2s. Immediate wire transfer requests go out that can seriously affect the identity theft victims.
Here at Gecinger Tax & Accounting, we pass along information such as this to our customers to help protect you from such scams. We further assure you that all information provided to us in the course of accounting services for you personally or your business is guarded with extreme care. We do not forward information based solely on an email. If you email us to request we send IRS tax forms or something else to a third-party, we follow up with a phone call to confirm and may have you sign a release depending on the circumstances, for your protection. We take security seriously and have several processes in place to assure complete confidentiality. If you would like to know more, don’t hesitate to contact us.