Scammers are very creative – don’t be sucked in. If you think something is wrong or doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts.

If you get contacted by someone you know add the email seems off, don’t be afraid to send a clean email (a new email with the address taken from your address book, don’t reply) and ask the person if they really sent it.

Here is a phishing attempt that just came through on one of my California, CPA Yahoo! Groups

“The Nigerians are at it again. I received an email inquiry from a potential new client claiming to be a business with messy books and needing tax help. I emailed back and asked him to call me at a specific date & time. No call. The next day I got another email saying that he had tired to call but there was no answer. He was sending details of what he needed in a document on Google Drive.
It seemed odd, but I stupidly attempted to access the document.

Got message that the document had been moved. Approximately 1 hour later, I got an email from Google saying that they had blocked an attempt to log into my Google account and they recommended changing the password and other security steps. This message showed up at my business email and another email that I use frequently and had listed as a back-up email account. Google located the “device” as a windows computer in Nigeria. The whole thing was a pure phishing attempt. Luckily Google blocked the attempted log in, and I got the warning and changed passwords right away.”