IRS Warns Of 400% Flood In Phishing and Malware This Tax Year Alone (networkworld.com) 42
coondoggie writes: There has been a 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents in this tax season alone, the Internal Revenue Service warned this week. According to the IRS, there have been thousands of phony emails aimed at fooling taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including from many tax software companies.
Easy fix. (Score:2, Insightful)
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Low income people are going to have a riot over that suggestion, just like they're practically rioting over the "smart" electric meters because they snitch when you steal power. I have family in Detroit... you know, lower class. Everyone there uses the tried and true method of I have no W2s or 1099s, so I just put down $500 in the "other income" section and check "head of household" and suddenly you qualify for a several thousand dollar rebate, earned income credit, etc. The Michigan Dept of Treasury finall
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The difficult part is figuring out what counts as income, and where to report that income.
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I recommend everyone look into incorporation. This doesn't necessitate hiring a lawyer and an accountant but, done properly, it can often lead to having enough extra money to do both and still be keeping more of your income (legally) than before.
That and, well, this flat tax idea is pretty stupid. I pay just about 23% on capital gains. I have *no* taxable income. I really don't. I, personally, have no taxably income. 23% isn't a very high percentage. That'd really suck if you're taxably income is something
An increase in phishing? (Score:4)
https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]
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Plays into this too...
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/03/sign-up-at-irs-gov-before-crooks-do-it-for-you/
Someone thought it would be a bright idea to have online registration with the IRS. So now people will think it's more legit if they did sign up. So that email could have more of a chance to be taken seriously...
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The problem is while you are technically correct good luck fighting a corrupt entity that effectively has infinite money.
There are more important battles to fight.
--
Don't steal -- the government has a monopoly on stealing and murder. It is legal when they do, but not you."
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It's illegal to pay taxes
You better hope not, because it's also illegal to skip paying taxes. So if you are right, you're going to jail because there's no way to avoid it.
you mean that *Enforcement Action* call i got? (Score:2)
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Don't get me wrong, I think my tax dollars are grossly misappropriated and I'd rather not be paying many senators salaries... but to make the blanket statement that tax is theft is to ignore all those things that your taxes cover to make your life better.
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Please do me a favor, if you can. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, stuff this away: They're not a Libertarian. They're a Randian or an Embarrassed Republican who has co-opted the moniker.
It might be hard to tuck that away, they are a noisy bunch. But, as I've explained many times, liberty is the actual ideal for Libertarians. That's for all, not for a select or wealthy few. If it's only for a select few, chance are that it's not anything more than abuse under the guise of liberty.
The IRS sucks at maths (Score:2)
Someone should teach the IRS never to use variation percentages outside the -50% – +100% range.
And unsurprisingly, they got it wrong: “1,026 up from 254 from a year earlier”, that makes roughly ×4, i.e. +300%; +400% is ×5.
Well, it could just be just the journalist that sucks at maths. At the very least, he did not check the figures.
How clueless does one have to be..... (Score:2)
The IRS does not and would not *EVER* request any information that is confidential between you and the IRS to be sent via email.
I'm not sure that the IRS even uses email to contact taxpayers at all, although if they did, it would probably be for things that are irrelevant to the matter of filing taxes, like maybe informing them of new services or something similar.
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you'd also think they would NEVER be the enforcer of health care law either... but they are.
the only way to win, is eliminate the IRS.
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... to fall for a scam like this?
The IRS does not and would not *EVER* request any information that is confidential between you and the IRS to be sent via email.
I bet many people don't completely understand the nuances in distinction between transacting official communications over email, and calculating/filing your taxes on a website/electronically. If you can expect to get in swift and certain trouble for impersonating a police officer, wouldn't you assume that the IRS/FBI can similarly prosecute people who impersonate a government agency via electronic communications?
On another note, why couldn't they have put investigative/prosecutory powers like that into so
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400% surge in phishing and malware incidents (Score:1)