A report has been released about a new scam that attacks people online. The scam is alluring since the email sent to the victim appears to come to a co-worker. Thus, it seems to be legitimate, but it is used to steal financial information and sensitive personal identification.
The "W-2 Scam" is intended to obtain access to personal information of people as many as possible within a targeted organization. The Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection in Helena published a statement about this scam.
According to Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, the W-2 Scam is an offensive spear phishing scam because it takes advantage of the trust among employees. The scammers often observed their intended target through the recipient's social media pages and LinkedIn profile to generate a convincing email.
Scammers pretend to be a company executive through email and usually attack those who are working in the human resources or payroll department. The scammers will then use spoofing techniques to disguise the email address to make it look like as if it came from an organization executive.
The content of the email will request all the lists of the employees' W-2 information such as the name of the employee, address, wage information, and social security numbers. Therefore, the scam is more of identity theft rather than fake tax filing.
Instead of responding with the unusual email, it's better to contact the alleged sender through a phone call or in person to confirm the legitimacy of the email. This is also a way to assure that W-2 information will not be compromised. As April 18 tax deadline is coming, the OCP warns employees to protect their W-2 information.