Would You Take the Bait? Why Phishing Scams Should Concern You

Who really falls for a phishing scam? 

It’s probably a question you’ve asked yourself or said to a friend or colleague.

People fall for phishing scams all the time, it’s why they continue to happen. Sure, there are a lot of “Nigerian Prince” emails that get sent. These are the most obvious and well known but they aren’t the only scam running these days. There are multiple ways to get phished – some of which can be extremely convincing.

The question, “What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished?” was recently posed on Reply All, a podcast that covers all things internet related. The host basically hired someone to phish her coworkers and guess what? It worked. The host’s extremely skeptical and intelligent coworkers took the bait and gave up their passwords to a very high tech and convincing scam.

Professional hackers can do everything from impersonate email addresses to impersonate trusted sites like Google or Dropbox. The podcast is definitely worth a listen. They explain how phishing scams work, and how they were able to phish their boss and CEO.

Give it a listen here: Reply All: What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished?

It’s important to stay up to date on the latest scams, to warn your clients, and to train employees on security best practices. Here are some other resources to check out.

7 Ways to Keep Client Data Secure

6 Common Phishing Attacks and How to Protect Against Them

Refund Scam Round-up: Know What You’re Up Against

Protect Yourself and Clients from Cybercrime

How to Protect Your Client Information

Are You Covered in the Event of a Data Breach?

 

source http://www.theincometaxschool.com/blog/would-you-take-the-bait-why-phishing-scams-should-concern-you/

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Gig Workforce and Portable Benefits

On May 25, 2017, Senator Warner (D-VA) and Congresswoman DelBene (D-WA) introduced H. 1251 and H.R. 2685, Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act. It calls for $20 million of grant dollars for states to study and pursue innovative ways to provide portable benefits to "the growing independent workforce."

Per Senator Warner: "Whether by choice or necessity, a growing number of Americans are working without a safety net and have difficulty planning and saving for retirement, health care needs, or on-the-job injuries. The nature of work is changing rapidly, but our policies largely remain tied to a 20th century model of traditional full-time employment.” “As more and more Americans engage in part-time, contract or other alternative work arrangements, it’s increasingly important that we provide them with an ability to access more flexible, portable benefits that they can carry with them to multiple jobs across a day, a year, and even a career. These incentive grants will accelerate experimentation at the state and local levels to better support a more independent 21st century workforce.”

This is a good idea, but puzzling as to why they don't address this at the federal level given the number of provisions regarding workers that exist at the federal level. For example, only employees get unemployment benefits, not contractors. Retirement plans differ for employees versus contractors. Why not modify these rules to address the fact that even if someone is an employee rather than a contractor, they will have numerous employers over their careers. They all need portable benefits.

Why aren't federal tax reform discussions also focused on trends and modernization of our tax system?

What do you think?








source http://21stcenturytaxation.blogspot.com/2017/05/gig-workforce-and-portable-benefits.html