Iria

A new phishing attack posing as a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service is using a configuration problem on the GovBenefits.gov Web site to fool users into thinking they're safe in offering up personal information such as Social Security and credit card numbers.

The fraud begins with an e-mail supposedly from the IRS, which claims the recipient is owed a tax refund. In the message from "taxrefunds@irs.gov," a link is embedded to a site where recipients can supposedly collect the refund.

So far, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with U.K.-based security company Sophos, that's not out of the ordinary. But this phishing campaign goes a step farther.

"The link bounces you off a U.S. government site onto one owned by the criminals, who are waiting to steal your credit card and Social Security number," said Cluley.

The site, GovBenefits.gov, hasn't been hacked, said Cluley, but he believes it has had its security configuration incorrectly set so that URL requests are easily redirected.
___________
Read More / Source: TechWeb