The IRS is warning payroll and human resources professionals of an email scam aimed at stealing proprietary employee information.
Scammers use the name of a corporate officer to request employee W-2 forms from payroll or human resources departments. IRS officials caution employees to double-check any executive-level or unusual requests for lists of W-2 forms or Social Security numbers. They say last year scammers who successfully obtained information used it to try to file fraudulent tax returns for refunds.
The bogus emails will contain, for example, the actual name of the company’s CEO. That practice is called “spoofing.” In the phony email, the person will ask for copies of everyone’s 2016 W-2 and earnings summaries or an updated list of all employees with information like their home addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.
Be wary if you get any such request and double check by sending a new email to the person asking for the data before hitting reply and complying.
