Main Street Practitioner Blog

NSA is warning all tax professionals and taxpayers of a new E-mail scam posing as National Taxpayer Advocate.

The subject line for the fraudulent email is “URGENT NOTICE: IMPORTANT STEPS AND PROCEDUTES FOR NEW TAX SEASON” and uses an IRS logo at the bottom. The message purports to be from National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina E. Olson using two email addresses Nina.Olson@irs.gov and spolman@g.sebeka.k12.mn.us.

The scam e-mail advices Certified Public Accountants of new guidelines and rules for the upcoming 2017 tax season, claiming that there is a compulsory new act for all CPA’s. A PDF file titled “New Season Shared Docx.pdf” is attached with a link purporting as a secure file accessible on Google Drive. The message has several misspellings and uses an incorrect “NW Minneapolis” address.

A copy of the Scam E-mail is below:

A number of scams pose as IRS e-services or other entities to trick you into clicking on malicious links or downloading malicious attachments. These phishing scams may attempt to steal your usernames and passwords for critical accounts. Or, they may secretly install software that will track your every key stroke. When in doubt about any communication purporting to be from the IRS or an affiliate, go to their main web page instead of clicking any links.