"IRS impersonation remains one of the most reliable social engineering plays because it targets a true, and urgent, pain point. In fact, the IRS was one of the most highly impersonated brands last year."
"Much of the attack relies on the general public not understanding how agencies like the IRS typically communicate. The IRS contacts taxpayers first by U.S. mail; it does not initiate contact through email, text message, or social media to request personal or financial information."
"Attackers have evolved to better bypass people's instinctive defenses. Many people have been trained to inspect links to look for misspellings, unicode characters, or suspicious domain names."
"Their goal is convenience: getting victims to quickly scan QR codes, especially embedded in PDF attachments, which can lead to compromised personal information."
Tax season brings increased phishing threats, particularly IRS impersonation schemes that exploit urgency and confusion around taxes. Attackers use generative AI to create convincing messages that mimic legitimate communications from the IRS and other organizations. These scams often push victims to act quickly, leading to the submission of personal data. The IRS typically communicates via U.S. mail, not email or social media, making unexpected messages suspicious. Attackers have also shifted tactics, using QR codes to bypass traditional defenses against phishing.
Read at Securitymagazine
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