Hello Colleagues,

 As we enter tax season, please be alert for an increase in phishing attempts. For the past few years, criminals have enjoyed some success using email campaigns to trick us into supplying our personal information to them. While phishing has many forms, campaigns this time of the year invite us to access our Form W-2s, various Form 10-99s, and even communication from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state departments of revenue. The phishing forms are often variations on the following theme:

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From: USG Human Resources

Sent: Monday, January 16, 2017 03:00

Subject: Your W2

Dear Employee,

Your W2 is now prepared and available from the self-service portal. Please click the link below to access your W2.

Please click here to Logon.

Sincerely,

USG Human Resources

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As a reminder, the IRS does not routinely send email to taxpayers. Please check your postal mail if you expect communication from the IRS. If emails appear to be from USG Human Resources or other organizations from which financial information is expected, please verify the message is legitimate prior to clicking any links. And please continue to contact the USG Help Desk at helpdesk@usg.edu (706-583-2001) if you receive emails that appear suspicious. If you have additional questions, please contact Cybersecurity.

Thanks for staying alert. Have a cyber-safe tax season!

Todd

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Dr. W. Todd Watson, Sr.

Information Security Officer

University System of Georgia

Cybersecurity