Someone sent me an nondescript Email, no fancy embosing and such, but claiming to be the IRS. It first asked for my employee ID on my W2, then it asked for my Social, date of birth and address. Some people would do this automatically. At least this one didn't tell me to cough up the money in a gift card format and send it to them. This one said it was working with Craigslist, Monster and career Builder to survey both employed and unemployed to gather data for unemployment data.
What is the problem with that: outside of the fact its a non-water mark, no symbol white paper Email with a .com address instead of a .gov. First, they don't need my W-2 ID; they just need to know, yes or No, if I am working. If I am working, then in what field. If I am not working, what is my education level and in what field was I previously employed. And finally, if I am in school for a new degree or not. None of these things were asked, just the information needed to steal my identity.
Oh, and of course check who it was sent to, in this case it was sent to a Gmail account which was then hacked to spam other Email. Thus finding the person who sent it probably would be difficult.
What is the problem with that: outside of the fact its a non-water mark, no symbol white paper Email with a .com address instead of a .gov. First, they don't need my W-2 ID; they just need to know, yes or No, if I am working. If I am working, then in what field. If I am not working, what is my education level and in what field was I previously employed. And finally, if I am in school for a new degree or not. None of these things were asked, just the information needed to steal my identity.
Oh, and of course check who it was sent to, in this case it was sent to a Gmail account which was then hacked to spam other Email. Thus finding the person who sent it probably would be difficult.