I cringe every time that I have to pay taxes quarterly, and whenever I receive an email or letter from the IRS or Oregon Department of Revenue. My email inbox today had the following official looking message:
The from email address was legitimate as noreply@irs.gov, however this email message had two things that stuck out to me as suspicious:
- The wording was quite awkward, like: “we oblige you to update”
- There’s an HTML file attachment, a big security no-no
So folks, this email was another phishing attempt to lure me into double-clicking on the attached HTML file, the real IRS will never send you an HTML file for clicking. The real IRS would have your Social Security number displayed, or your first and last name, or your address, something to identify that they know who you really are beyond just an email address.
Be vigilant and always question any suspicious looking email before blindly following what hackers are sending you.
