The Michigan Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and the tax industry are warning tax professionals to be alert to a new phishing email scam impersonating software providers.

 

The scam email comes with the subject line, “Access Locked.” It tells recipients that access to their tax preparation software has been suspended due to errors security details and they must click an “unlock” link that goes to a fake web page, where they are asked to enter their user name and password.

 

Instead of unlocking accounts, the tax professionals are actually providing their information to cybercriminals who use the stolen credentials to access the preparers’ accounts and to steal client information.

 

The Michigan Department of Treasury, IRS and the nation’s tax community remind tax professionals and taxpayers to never open a link or an attachment from a suspicious email. These scams can increase during the tax season.

 

Tax professionals can review additional tips to protect clients and themselves on the Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself website at IRS.gov.

 

For tax professionals who receive emails purportedly from their tax software providers suggesting their accounts have been suspended, they should send those scam emails to their tax software provider.

 

Windows users can this process to help the investigation of these scam emails:

 

1. Use “Save As” to save the scam. Under “save as type” in the drop down menu, select “plain text” and save to your desk top. Do not click on any links.

2. Open a new email and attach this saved email as a file

3. Send your new email containing the attachment your tax software provider, as well as copy Phishing@IRS.gov.