The IRS recently issued an alert for email schemes that fraudulently request for your personal identifiable information.  They are seeing a 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents so far this tax season.

The emails are designed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS, others in the tax industry or from RCUH.  These malicious emails contain links which, when clicked, takes the recipient to sites designed to imitate official-looking government websites or possibly even RCUH’s website.  Personal information may then be requested or malware may be transferred to your computer to gain access to your files.

The IRS, other tax agencies, and RCUH do not initiate contact with taxpayers via email, text or social media to request for personal or financial information.  If there is an issue or problem, the first contact with the IRS is usually through official correspondence sent through the email, and NOT a phone call or email.

Please refer to the IRS website at www.irs.gov for informational notices about phishing scams.  To learn about protecting your personal, financial and tax data, see the following from the IRS website:  Security Awareness for Tax Payers, Publication 4524 and Security Awareness Tax Tips.

The RCUH does NOT initiate a request for personal identifiable information such as social security numbers, birthdates or PIN numbers.

Please be aware and keep vigilant so as not to fall victim to the growing surge of fraudulent requests for your personal identifiable information.