Poorly written scam tax emails

[JimTaxes]

I think they are getting my email from PTIN sources..

this one came in this morning.. terrible written as far as scam emails go

Good morning,

 

Attaching my last year return of my Tax. can you please suggest if paying up might benefit. 

 

Could you still help us file our taxes? Please advise. 

 

Mellisa Schranner,

websterherald

 

[JimTaxes]

well since I was commenting on how terribly written it was I meant to say terribly written, not terrible written..

can posts be edited here?  I did not see an edit button.. thank you.

[rfassett]

This was in my inbox at 5:31 this morning:

Good day,

 

A friend of mine referred me to you. I want you to help us file our tax return this year as our previous CPA/account passed in October. How much will this cost us ? We would appreciate your soonest response

This is my response:

I am so sorry to hear about your previous CPA.  We are here to help any way we can.  However, without knowing more about your tax situation, I am unable to quote a fee.  I would suggest, however, that our fee structure is in line with the smaller CPA practices in the area and lower than the bigger practices.  I would be happy to give you a better idea if you could supply some details.

And here is the response I got:

See attached of my prior employer W-2 along with Health Coverage, Mortgage Interest and IRA statement upload via secure DocuSign.

Let me know what would be the filling fees.

 

 

My security settings would not allow the DocuSign to open without input.

I emailed back and asked for the name of the friend referral and the emailer's phone number. The first dialog took place over just a couple of minutes.  Since my last request nearly three hours ago, I have heard nothing.

 

The scammers are out there in force  Be diligent!

[Possi]

I opted out of the PTIN directory. Maybe that's why I'm not getting these.

[Abby Normal]

4 hours ago, JimTaxes said:

return of my Tax

LOL

[Catherine]

Maybe you can send him to Roni Deutsch?

[Tax Prep by Deb]

6 hours ago, rfassett said:

This was in my inbox at 5:31 this morning:

Good day,

 

A friend of mine referred me to you. I want you to help us file our tax return this year as our previous CPA/account passed in October. How much will this cost us ? We would appreciate your soonest response

This is my response:

I am so sorry to hear about your previous CPA.  We are here to help any way we can.  However, without knowing more about your tax situation, I am unable to quote a fee.  I would suggest, however, that our fee structure is in line with the smaller CPA practices in the area and lower than the bigger practices.  I would be happy to give you a better idea if you could supply some details.

And here is the response I got:

See attached of my prior employer W-2 along with Health Coverage, Mortgage Interest and IRA statement upload via secure DocuSign.

Let me know what would be the filling fees.

 

 

My security settings would not allow the DocuSign to open without input.

I emailed back and asked for the name of the friend referral and the emailer's phone number. The first dialog took place over just a couple of minutes.  Since my last request nearly three hours ago, I have heard nothing.

 

The scammers are out there in force  Be diligent!

Be careful with DocuSign.  I am currently in the middle of a real estate sale whereby my agent has sent me documents to sign, (Not thru DocuSign) and just yesterday I go an email from her stating she wanted to share a document with me, to open the document they wanted me to give my email account credentials, very similar to my last year problem with  drop box.  I will never again sign in using my email credentials.  If it is legitimate you should not have to sign in with anything or if you have an account at least with that account credentials.

[SaraEA]

rfassett, you didn't actually try to open the link did you?!!!  Thank your security software for keeping you out of harm's way.  The whole point of these scams is to get you to open a link, which opens your computer system to an invasion of malware.  From there, they can steal all your client data.  NEVER EVER click any links, especially from strangers but even strange emails from clients.  (Several times a year I get odd emails from clients, like just a link,  or a movie recommendation. I tell them their account has been hacked and to change their password.)  I got two emails just this week from "new clients" wanting me to prepare their taxes.  I didn't open either but forwarded both to [email protected].  Please don't try that again.  Just delete.

[rfassett]

Thanks, Sara! No, I did not open the link. My radar was on high alert from the get go, so I was proceeding with great caution. Thanks for the concern!

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

This crap is another reason that I won't take clients from the Internet and if something comes from a client that I don't expect, I call them or email them before I open it. I don't trust much online anymore. The email that I used for PTIN before I opted out, is not one that my clients have. 

[JimTaxes]

This scammer's email is very lame.. like he did not even put any effort in his scam writing skills

 

Hi,
I have attached copy of my previous return that I believe will help you determine what you need and make your work easier.
Please let me know if you need any other supporting document.

Regards,
William Adams

[JohnH]

I'm absolutely convinced that poorly written sentences are intentional in these email scams.  The scammer is looking for people who don't pay close attention or even those whose understanding of grammar is not the best. They make the best victims. 

[TedL]

Still happening. I received this yesterday (I took out the link and typed in bold the words that appeared)

Thank you for taking time to respond to my email, it has been a pretty busy week for me and my family as we are planning out our yearly  family trip. I will be available for a phone conversation next week Monday around noon, will that work for you?

In the meantime, find below my prior year tax forms and other tax related materials. Kindly familiarize yourself with it to  make our teleconference swift and straight forward. 

Brent Crawford Tax Forms.PDF

What is your accepted mode of payment?

Hope to hear back from you!

Best regards

Brent Crawford

 

 

[RitaB]

Well, I don't who raised these people, but one way to guarantee I don't respond is to direct me to kindly familiarize myself with anything.

Familiarize yourself with this:  Not today, Satan.  

[Max W]

On 1/18/2018 at 3:17 PM, Catherine said:

Maybe you can send him to Roni Deutsch?

It would be hard to find RD in Brasil.