If you have received your W-2 form from your employer, the Better Business Bureau has a warning for you about a new identity theft scam involving emails from the “IRS” that the BBB has not seen before. This new scam is “phishing” for your W-2 form information.
The BBB wants you to know the red flags that immediately signal scams:
• The IRS is NOT going to email you. They will send you a letter if they need more information from you. This also applies to your bank, the FBI or your credit cards. None of these companies or agencies are going to email you and instruct you to click on a link to provide personal information.
• W-2 forms are NOT submitted by individual taxpayers until you file your income tax return, they are submitted to the IRS by your employer.
• You should NEVER click on any links in unknown emails. Clicking on the links could infect your computer with viruses and spyware.
• You should NEVER give out personal information such as your wages, social security number, home address and birth date to anyone who emails you or calls you. These pieces of information are like GOLD to scammers because they would have everything they need to steal your identity.
• Misspelled words — In this email, the word “submission” is spelled incorrectly which means that English is probably not the first language for the sender who is probably located in another country.
For more information or to check out a company online, please visit www.bbb.org.