Scammers spring for stimulus plan

Researchers from Sans are reporting that a new scam is offering users a refund from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The spam message claims that the user is eligible for a stimulus payment which can be received by filling out an attached HTML form.

When the user launches the HTML file, the browser redirects to another site which, at the moment, displays a 404 error.

The attack signals what is expected to be a busy tax season for spammers. While tax-related scams have grown in popularity both in the US and UK in recent years, the economic crisis and proposed tax stimulous package could only further complicate matters.

Users will have one definite way to protect themselves, however. Tax payments in the US are only processed through direct deposit or postal service.

"Moral of the story, if it looks too good to be true, it is," wrote Sans researcher Adrien de Beaupre.

"The IRS will hopefully not be emailing out forms for economic stimulus payments any time soon."