Tax authorities issue warning against malicious emails disguised as tax notices

By Park Sae-jin Posted : June 3, 2019, 18:15 Updated : June 3, 2019, 18:15

[Gettyimages Bank]

SEOUL -- South Koran tax authorities issued warnings against emails containing malicious codes including ransomware disguised as tax notices.

Recently, emails disguised as tax notices or appearance notices have been indiscriminately sent mainly to addresses operated by companies. Such emails contained malicious codes including ransomware which starts attacking PCs as soon as attached files are operated.

The National Tax Office said in a statement on Monday that it has not sent any emails regarding tax-related paper works and urged email users not to open attached files.

Cyber attacks in forms of corrupted emails began to thrive when prices of cryptocurrency soared in early 2017. The emails mainly contained a job application letter. Other malicious emails contained corrupted phone bills. Cryptocurrency exchanges were infected with personal information of about 31,800 users being leaked. Some users claimed that Bitcoins disappeared from their accounts.
 
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