Hosting News
Barracuda Networks Warns Against Spam Campaigns Purportedly from IRS and Canada Revenue Agency
2009-02-05
Latest Email Scams Promise “Stimulus Payment” or “Tax Refund” in Attempt to
Steal Recipients’ Personal Information
Campbell, Calif., Feb. 5, 2009 – Barracuda Networks Inc. today warned
email users not to open emails or follow links contained in emails purportedly
from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that promise payment if recipients
submit a “stimulus payment form.” Barracuda Networks reports that the number of
such emails has been steadily on the rise in the past 24 hours following recent
news of President Barack Obama’s push to get a new economic stimulus package
passed through Congress. Similar campaigns allegedly from the Canada Revenue
Agency are also on the rise and promise a “tax refund.”
“These particular spam scams are certainly variations of schemes we have seen in
past years during tax season, but what is relatively new this year is how adept
the spammers are at chasing the latest news, be it good or bad news, related to
the economy,” said Stephen Pao, vice president of product management for
Barracuda Networks. “Spammers are very aware that people are in a vulnerable
position right now and are looking for ways to cash in on that vulnerability.”
In the latest IRS spam campaign, spammers try to lure recipients to fill out an
online form to receive their “Stimulus Payment.” The email often includes an
attachment that leads the recipient to a phishing Web site designed to look like
the legitimate IRS Web site. Once on the site, recipients are asked for
personally identifying information such as social security number, name and
address. Other variations of this campaign, including the campaign allegedly
from the Canada Revenue Agency, include dollar amounts that are purportedly owed
to the recipient as part of the refund.
“So far we have found that most of the phishing sites were quickly detected by
the Web Host Providers and have been de-activated,” said Pao. “It is still
important to note, however, that these type of campaigns tend to mutate rather
quickly using new domains. Further, consumers would also be well served to never
provide personal information on a Web site that they link to from an email. It
is typically safer to visit the Web site directly, whether it’s a retail site, a
financial institution site or even a government Web site such as the IRS.”
Both the IRS (http://www.irs.gov) and Canada
Revenue Agency (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/)
have issued warnings on their respective Web sites about fraudulent email
communications and how to report them.
Click here for more information
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