Tax Season Scams Are Starting Early. Here's the One That Hits Small Businesses First.

Tax season is here. Your accountant is buried. Your bookkeeper is scrambling for documents. Everyone is focused on W-2s, 1099s, and deadlines.

But there's a threat that shows up before April even gets close — a scam so convincing it has fooled businesses across Wisconsin, Florida, and beyond. If you run a small business in La Crosse, Eau Claire, Fort Myers, or anywhere in between, this one is worth your attention.

The W-2 Scam: How It Works

Here is the setup:

Someone in your company — usually whoever handles payroll or HR — gets an email that looks like it came from the CEO or owner.

The message is short, urgent, and completely believable:

"Hey, I need copies of all employee W-2s for a meeting with the accountant. Can you send them over ASAP? I'm slammed today."

The tone sounds right. The timing makes sense. So your employee sends the W-2s.

Except the email was not from the CEO. It was from a criminal using a spoofed address or a look-alike domain.

Now that criminal has every employee's:

• Full legal name
• Social Security number
• Home address
• Salary details

Everything needed for identity theft. Everything needed to file fraudulent tax returns before your employees do.

What Happens Next

Your employee files their tax return. It gets rejected: "Return already filed for this Social Security number."

Someone already filed in their name. Already claimed their refund.

Now they are dealing with the IRS, credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and months of paperwork — all because of a document they did not know they sent.

Multiply that by your entire payroll. Then imagine explaining to your team that their personal information was compromised because someone fell for a fake email.

That is not just a security problem. That is a trust problem. An HR nightmare. A potential lawsuit. A reputation hit.

Why This Scam Works So Well

This is not a Nigerian prince email. It does not look fake at first glance.

The timing is perfect. W-2 requests are expected in February. Nobody questions why someone would ask for them now.

The request is reasonable. It is not "wire $50,000" or "buy gift cards." It is something that actually gets shared during tax season.

The urgency feels normal. "I'm slammed today, can you send this quick?" does not raise red flags in a busy office.

The sender looks legitimate. Criminals research targets. They know the CEO's name. Sometimes they know your accountant's name.

Employees want to be helpful. Especially to the boss. Urgency overrides verification.

5 Steps to Protect Your Business Right Now

The good news: this scam is preventable. And it takes policy and culture more than fancy tech.

1. Make a "No W-2s via Email" Rule

Period. No exceptions. W-2s and other sensitive payroll documents do not leave your building through email attachments. If someone asks for them via email, the answer is "no" — even if it looks like the CEO.

2. Verify Sensitive Requests Through a Second Channel

Phone call. In person. Teams or Slack message. Anything other than replying to the email. Use a number you already have, not one in the message. It takes 30 seconds and can save months of cleanup.

3. Do a 10-Minute Tax-Scam Huddle Now

Not later. Not "when we get closer." Tell your payroll and HR people today: "These scams are about to spike. This is what they look like. This is what we do." Awareness is cheap insurance.

4. Lock Down Payroll and HR Systems

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) on anything that touches employee data. If someone's credentials get phished, MFA is the last door they will slam into.

5. Make Verification a Culture, Not a Burden

The employee who calls to double-check a request from the CEO should be praised, not made to feel paranoid. When questioning is rewarded, scams have nowhere to hide.

The Bigger Picture

The W-2 scam is just the opening act. Between now and April, expect a flood of tax-themed attacks:

• Fake IRS notices demanding immediate payment
• Phishing emails disguised as tax software updates
• Spoofed messages from "your accountant" with malicious links
• Fraudulent invoices timed to look like tax expenses

Businesses that get through tax season clean are not luckier — they are prepared.

Is Your Business Ready?

If your team already knows what to look for, great. You are ahead of most small businesses.

If not, now is the time. Coulee Tech helps businesses across Wisconsin and Southwest Florida implement email security, phishing protection, and employee security awareness training that catches threats like this before they become disasters.

Request a free discovery call to review your email security, W-2 verification rules, and payroll system access — before tax season scams hit your inbox.