pspanThe IRS issued a /spana href=http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/mar/irs-phishing-scheme-fo... warning on Tuesday, March 1, 2016/span/aspan: payroll and human resources departments should beware of an email phishing scheme in which cybercriminals pose as company executives (including CEOs) and ask for confidential employee information, such as Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, as well as employees’ Social Security numbers, address, date of birth, and salary. Once this information has been stolen, it can be used to commit a number of crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns to obtain refunds./span/ppspanThis article addresses the critical action the IRS is taking to foreworn HR and Payroll professionals concerning this new criminal tactic. We especially want to encourage HR and Payroll professionals to be aware of the specific tactics being used, and to caution everyone involved in HR and payroll activities to be extra vigilant.  /span/ppspanThe following is an /spana href=https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-alerts-payroll-and-hr-professionals-to-... taken directly from the IRS website/span/aspan:/span/ppspanWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued an alert to payroll and human resources professionals to beware of an emerging phishing email scheme that purports to be from company executives and requests personal information on employees./span/ppspanThe IRS has learned this scheme — part of the surge in phishing emails seen this year — already has claimed several victims as payroll and human resources offices mistakenly email payroll data including Forms W-2 that contain Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information to cybercriminals posing as company executives./span/ppspan“This is a new twist on an old scheme using the cover of the tax season and W-2 filings to try tricking people into sharing personal data. Now the criminals are focusing their schemes on company payroll departments,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “If your CEO appears to be emailing you for a list of company employees, check it out before you respond. Everyone has a responsibility to remain diligent about confirming the identity of people requesting personal information about employees.”/span/ppspanIRS Criminal Investigation already is reviewing several cases in which people have been tricked into sharing SSNs with what turned out to be cybercriminals. Criminals using personal information stolen elsewhere seek to monetize data, including by filing fraudulent tax returns for refunds./span/ppspanThis phishing variation is known as a “spoofing” email. It will contain, for example, the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this variation, the “CEO” sends an email to a company payroll office employee and requests a list of employees and information including SSNs./span/ppspanThe following are some of the details contained in the e-mails:/span/pullipspanKindly send me the individual 2015 W-2 (PDF) and earnings summary of all W-2 of our company staff for a quick review./span/p/lilipspanCan you send me the updated list of employees with full details (Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Home Address, Salary)./span/p/lilipspanI want you to send me the list of W-2 copy of employees wage and tax statement for 2015, I need them in PDF file type, you can send it as an attachment. Kindly prepare the lists and email them to me asap./span/p/li/ulpspanThe IRS recently renewed a wider /spana href=https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/consumers-warned-of-new-surge-in-irs-email-... alert/span/aspan for e-mail schemes after seeing an approximate 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents so far this tax season and other reports of scams targeting others in a wider tax community./span/ppspanThe emails are designed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including tax software companies. The phishing schemes can ask taxpayers about a wide range of topics. E-mails can seek information related to refunds, filing status, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying PIN information./span/p