Just a reminder:
The Treasury Department and IRS will be announcing the automatic distribution of the upcoming economic impact payments will begin soon. These payments will be distributed automatically, with no action required for most people.
The IRS also urged taxpayers to be on the lookout for scams relating to economic impact payments. Criminals could exploit these confusing and stressful times to take advantage of taxpayers by committing fraud and identity theft.
Ways to spot a potential scam:
o The IRS will not call you asking you to verify financial information to expedite payment.
What Should I Do?
Here are some proactive measures you can take to help avoid becoming a victim of scams related to your potential economic impact payment.
• Be wary of any email, text, phone call, or social media request for money or other personal identifiable information in exchange for receiving your payment more quickly.
• Never send money to someone else in the hope of receiving additional money. The scam artist may call this a deposit, an advance, or a processing fee. This is always the sign of a scam.
• Never give your personal orfinancial information over the phone.
SCAM ALERT:
Be wary of a new scam going around using money transfer services like Venmo. In the scam money mysteriously appears in your Venmo account, sent by a scammer using a stolen credit card. They then send a message saying it was sent by mistake and asks for it to be refunded. Don't do it! If you refund the money before Venmo reverses the transaction you're responsible for the funds.
To protect yourself from these types of scams while using a digital wallet or money transfer app follow these Better Business Bureau tips:
THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!
In late January our Telephone Banking system will be upgraded with new enhanced features. Please listen carefully when you call as the menu options will have changed.
Click here to see the Telephone Banking Quick Reference Guide for more information.
Cybercriminals sent out tens of thousands of phishing emails mainly to users in the USA. The subject of the email suggests that Amazon has sent a gift card. Once the email is opened, users are tricked into believing that one of the biggest companies in the world has sent them a free gift of $100.
The whole message reads:
We are delighted to enclose a $100 Amazon gift card as our way of saying Thank You
Amazon gift cards looking exactly like the ones you receive from Amazon that deliver a banking malware for the gullible people. They have the correct Amazon logos, order numbers, and so on.
Once an unaware user clicks on the fake gift card, one of the following three banking trojans is installed:
A Word file is downloaded that urges the soon to be victims to enable macros. Once the “Enable Content” button is pressed, payload files of the malware are downloaded onto the device.
Screensaver files containing malicious scripts that are able to evade email security are downloaded.
A file that is embedded in the body of the email is executed as soon as the link is pressed.
This malware targets computers with Windows Operating System, and the main goal of it is to steal banking credentials.
Think Before You Click!