The Daily Bulletin Archive

Buffalo State University Police has become aware of a phishing campaign targeting government employees in several states. The scam purports to notify employees that their W-2 tax forms are available for download and supplies a link. The link directs users to a web page designed to look identical to their agency's website and prompts for a user name and password. Any information entered into the forms on this website will be stolen. This includes user names and passwords and any tax, banking, contact, or other personal information entered.

E-mails have been received with subject lines such as “Your Paperless W2,” and “IMPORTANT TAX RETURN DOCUMENT AVAILABLE,” but could potentially include a different subject in the future. E-mail messages are similarly worded and include language such as “Your W2 is ready for viewing under Employee Self Service. Logon at the following link,” or “Your 2015 W2 corrected statement is ready for viewing, follow the link below.”

Phishing e-mails are created to look as if they were sent by a trustworthy source, but they are crafted by malicious actors who intend to steal personal information. Cyber criminals use compromised credentials in several ways, including to impersonate individuals online, gain access to work and personal accounts, sign online service agreements or contracts, engage in financial transactions, or change account information.

This campaign has not been reported to include New York employees at this time, but personnel should scrutinize any messages with links to websites requesting personal information or containing suspicious attachments.

Employees should always confirm that e-mails that contain links or forms requesting personal information are from a valid source. If you receive an e-mail that you believe is part of this scam, do NOT click on any links in the message. Please forward the message to basinsjb@buffalostate.edu so that we can track the presence of the scam on our campus.

Any questions regarding your W-2 form should be directed to the Payroll Office at 878-4124.