The IRS is warning tax professionals about a scam involving email and IRS e-services. The scam is actually a variation of a prior scam, where tax professionals receive an email asking them to update their accounts. The link points to a fake website which claims to be an e-services registration page. The website is actually a phishing site, which is a website that claims to be legitimate, then asks you to enter sensitive information with for the purpose of committing fraud.

The IRS says that the subject line of the fraudulent email is “Security Awareness for Tax Professionals.” The email claims to be from “Your e-Services Team” and uses IRS logos to try and position itself as legitimate. The email plays on users’ fear that their information was stolen from certain user accounts in 2015 from a state-sponsored actor. The email suggests that users upgrade their account to ensure they are protected.

Forbes provided some guidance if you are fearful that you have been targeted:

“If you are an e-services user and you received the email and clicked on the fake logo or link and provided their username and password, contact the real e-services help desk immediately to reset your password. If you clicked on the link and the password you provided is the same password you use for other accounts, you should immediately reset those passwords. As an extra precaution, users should perform a deep security scan on their computers, re-evaluate their security controls, and be alert to any other signs of identity theft or data compromise.

If you receive a suspicious email that claims to be from IRS, do not open the email or click on any links. Instead, forward it as an attachment to phishing@irs.gov and then delete the email.

You can learn much more about the expanding types of criminal threats the IRS is monitoring and how they investigate potential crimes by watching an on-demand one-hour interview that Jack Surgent recently conducted with Jon Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit (IRS-CI), New Jersey office. This special event (which qualifies for one CPE credit for CPAs) is being offered for a limited time free of charge. Access the webcast now: http://www.cpenow.com/dtli