New IRS-Themed Email Spam Campaign
There is a new IRS-themed email spam campaign being waged to take advantage of the current tax season.
The rogue email has the subject of “Your Federal Tax Payment Notice sn#######” (# represents a number) and has forged header information to make it appear it came from the IRS’ address.
The message notifies recipients that their tax return filing was rejected by the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) and it asks them to correct an error.
The Body of the email:
“URGENT REPORT” Your Federal Tax Payment ID: ########## has been rejected. Return Reason Code R21. The identification number used in the Company Identification Field is not valid.
Please, check the attached information and refer to Code R21 to get details about your company payment in transaction contacts section.”
The attachment is called IRS-TAX-NOTIFICATION-printing-form-SN########.zip
This attachment contains a virus malware known as ZeuS. This malware has a very long track record of helping cyber criminals to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims – both consumers and commercial customers alike. This variant of the ZeuS virus currently has a low detection rate due to the fact it is a new variant with new signatures.
DO NOT click on the attachment or any link without being certain of the origin of the email. In this case, call EFTPS customer service at 800-555-4477.
For those not familiar, the EFTPS, the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, is a tax payment system provided free by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Businesses and individuals can pay all their federal taxes using EFTPS. They can make payments weekly, monthly, or quarterly. The payments can be scheduled in advance (120 days for businesses and 365 days for individuals).
As of January 1, 2011 Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) coupons can no longer be used for submitting depository taxes. Regulation 153340-09, section 6302, mandated that the FTD coupons will no longer be accepted and that FTD(s) must now be made electronically. The EFTPS is one way to submit those FTD’s.
If you think you have been a victim of the scam, call your financial institution and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx .
We at SpiritBank want to keep you informed about anything affecting the security of your private information or your finances.