You may have heard the saying, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Not to add more pessimism to that phrase, but, judging by what we’ve seen in the past, and continue to see today, it seems that we could also tack on “online tax scams” to that list of inevitabilities.

Here’s a recent example: there’s a new tax-related spam campaign that has been making the rounds for weeks but is still going strong today. All US taxpayers should be aware of this one –

Scammers have been seen posing as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, sending messages to  recipients by e-mail, with a notification of “underreported income”, ultimately prompting victims into downloading a so-called “tax statement” –  which, in reality, is malware. According to reports, this campaign is now the “world’s biggest e-mail virus problem.”

So what do you need to know to make sure you stay safe? Take a look at the detailed information that the IRS lists on its website, giving straightforward facts on how to report and identify phishing, e-mail scams and bogus IRS websites. US-CERT has also released a warning on this scam today, with additional steps on how to protect yourself. Taking a moment to familiarize yourself with this information can go a long way in keeping you from falling for fraud.