Phishers of men and women

[DaveinTexas]

Hey everyone, I hope everyone made it through tax season unharmed!

I think I am being targeted by a phisher/fraudster. This email (see below) is a "new client" asking me if I am still accepting clients and if so, they need my help. The email seemed innocuous at first but then my spidey-sense kicked in and I thought I would try to pry a bit more information out of the guy. I ask him "who referred you" and he responds with a Google Drive link so I can download and view his 2014 return. I haven't clicked on it but how look bold and seemingly innocent these folks can be!

Now, of course, if this is real then I am will feel silly but that's why I don't come out and say, "Stop scamming me pal!"

Anyway, I'd just thought I would alert you guys/gals in case you run into this situation sometime. Have a great week!

EMAILS:
On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 9:04 AM -0700, "Michael Flynn" <michaelflynn217@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello David,

You come recommended as a reputable tax preparer.

Are you still accepting new clients, as we need to concluded our 2015 Taxes.

We went on extension by sending paper mail.

Regards,

Michael Flynn


MY RESPONSE
On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 5:26 PM, David wrote:
Hello Michael,

I wonder, who recommended you sir? I like to reach out to my existing clients that recommend new clients so I can thank them personally.

Thank you!

David


HIS RESPONSE
Here is our situation, we went on extension by sending paper mail.

We should have all our 2015 docs in a week or two.

Here is our 2014 Tax Documents for your review.

Michael Flynn Shared - Tax Documents (THIS IS THE LINK HE SENT TO ME)

[JohnH]

You're wasting your time replying to the sender.
You're probably corresponding with an automated response anyhow.
It is most likely not a person, and definitely not a new client.

Just delete the emails and move on.
There is no potential business being lost here.

[DaveinTexas]

Never that

I don't consider responding to a scammer a waste of my time, however, I do consider it a waste of their time if I can string them along letting them think they have me. This will provide them with less time to scam someone else, which is why I ask my clients for the fake IRS phone numbers from the scammers that call them.

I call up these scammers and spend at least 5 to 10 minutes of their time (and mine) so they don't have those minutes stealing real money from people that aren't wise to the scams.

It's my small way of becoming Batman for just a few minutes in my life, obviously without dressing up in a silly costume, risking my life or actually performing a life-saving service to anyone.

[taxea]

Since you have already given them your email address you will probably start seeing all kinds of things happening with it. Did you provide any of your other IRS id info?
Send them a detailed organizer and ask for a copy of the last return filed.

I get at least two of these a week. I don't respond for security reasons.

[taxmom34]

first clue of a scam is "they can't spell"

[DaveinTexas]

Good one for catching the spelling error

And no, taxea, no other information was given other than the information that is readily available on NAEA's site (NTPI Fellow and EA search pages).

I like to respond, just out of civil disobedience!!! And, truth be told, I am a bit stubborn!

Really my intent was to make folks aware of this phishing scheme because to be honest, I almost fell for it. I have new clients contact me this way fairly often because the way they were contacted was via a joint (CC) email from either my networking group or one of my existing clients. And, the funny thing is, people almost immediately trust me (and probably you folks too) and will tell you and send you their entire life story, bank account information, SS #s, etc, etc. It's a clever scheme but the misspelled word(s) was revealing indeed!

[veritas]

Phishers of men

I'm still chuckling.

[taxea]

lol what a waste of your time. I would verify the referral, if anything, before I replied to the email.

[JohnH]

And no, taxea, no other information was given other than the information that is readily available on NAEA's site (NTPI Fellow and EA search pages).

I like to respond, just out of civil disobedience!!! And, truth be told, I am a bit stubborn!

Really my intent was to make folks aware of this phishing scheme because to be honest, I almost fell for it. I have new clients contact me this way fairly often because the way they were contacted was via a joint (CC) email from either my networking group or one of my existing clients. And, the funny thing is, people almost immediately trust me (and probably you folks too) and will tell you and send you their entire life story, bank account information, SS #s, etc, etc. It's a clever scheme but the misspelled word(s) was revealing indeed!

I'm not implying this happened to you, but I read an article some time back that addressed the phenomenon of the blatant misspellings, grammatical errors, and mangled syntax we see in many phishing emails. We generally attribute that to foreign scammers who aren't native speakers of English. However, the writer suggested that in many cases the "errors" are intentional. The best targets are people who are unsophisticated readers, those which don't think logically, or even people who spot the errors and mistakenly conclude they can outsmart the seemingly "unsophisticated" scammers. So in a sense, anyone who responds to the scam email has already passed the first test of being a potential victim.

And you will want to watch this TED talk by James Veitch. It's very entertaining. (Hope I'm not breaking any forum rules with this link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ&feature=youtu.be

[FEDUKE404]

Another issue

Aside from the aggravation of a phishing email, you better hope the "tax documents" (attachment??) did not contain a virus. . . .

FE

[oceanlovin'ea]

Had some

I had a few in the beginning of tax season. Since I am no longer taking new clients, I just replied that in my email. The second one that I got I just deleted. and the third. Haven't gotten any lately.

I did get 8 phone calls in one day from IRS saying I was going to jail if I didn't respond to them and pay a lot of money That finally died down too.

Linda, EA

[TAXNJ]

I had a few in the beginning of tax season. Since I am no longer taking new clients, I just replied that in my email. The second one that I got I just deleted. and the third. Haven't gotten any lately.

I did get 8 phone calls in one day from IRS saying I was going to jail if I didn't respond to them and pay a lot of money That finally died down too.

Linda, EA

Heard about some receiving telephone calls about "going to jail if I didn't respond". and responding with:

You reached the offices of the FBI

Or

"going to jail"? Ok, please hurry since I ran out of food and no air conditioning and TV broke. Do you need directions?

Bottom line just ignore and tell clients to ignore otherwise wasting time.