Blog Post  Take Steps to Protect Yourself and Your Clients from Scams

As tax professionals, you have a lot on your plate these days… don’t let a lack of security take you out of commission. The IRS, FTA, and tax organizations are reminding us of the continued importance of online safety. 

What’s at stake

The effects of cybercrime can wreak havoc on you and your clients by:

• Gaining access to your data to complete and file client tax returns through phishing emails and unsecured networks.
  • More specifically, they can change the bank account information for your clients’ refunds, thus stealing their money.
• Presenting themselves as a new client and asking you to view their wage and income information in an attachment.
•  Impersonating tax software providers, cloud storage providers, banks and others.
  • Remember, phishing emails may have an urgent message, like your account password expired, and trick you into clicking on a link or attachment.

Call to action

You are not powerless. The following steps will go a long way in protecting your personal and client financial information online:

1. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to safely transmit data between a remote user via the internet and the company network. Never fall for “pop-ups” on websites for VPN or security software.
2. Use a multi-factor authentication to protect your data. A scammer might be able to compromise your login credentials, but it is unlikely that they will have your phone number to retrieve your security code.
3. Call new clients to confirm their identity before opening attachments.
4. Report suspicious emails posing as the IRS to phishing@irs.gov.
5. Review the security measures outlined in the IRS’s Safeguarding Taxpayer Data.

Stay safe and secure. You are very important to your clients and to us.