US-CERT is aware of reports of tax season phishing scams. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has issued a news release on its website warning consumers about potential scams. These scams are circulating via fraudulent email or other online messages appearing to come from the IRS. They attempt to convince consumers to reveal personal and financial information that can be used to gain access to bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial institutions.

US-CERT encourages users to do the following to mitigate the risks:

• Review the How to Report and Identify Phishing, E-mail Scams and Bogus IRS Web Sites document on the IRS website.
• Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.
• Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document for more information on social engineering attacks.
• Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks (pdf) document for more information on social engineering attacks.

Read more: US-CERT Current Activity