Beware phishers claiming to be from National Tax Service

AhnLab, a Korean anti-virus service provider, introduces an attempted phishing case on Tuesday where the phisher impersonates a National Tax Administration official.

AhnLab introduces an email attempting to phish the recipients information to click on a phishing URL on Tuesday. [AHNLAB]

Phishers are impersonating National Tax Administration officials as the year-end tax adjustment period nears.

AhnLab, a Korean anti-virus service provider, introduced an attempted phishing case on Tuesday where the phisher impersonates a National Tax Administration official.

First, an emailed sent by "hometaxadmin@hometax.go.kr" comes through the mailbox.

The email warns the recipient to update the current password with a message saying "your password expires the day you receive this email." It tricks the recipient to click an URL that reads "update current password," highlighted in black.

Personal and card information are requested to proceed further. The email recipient becomes a phishing victim when the information is submitted.

AhnLab advises recipients not to open emails received from untrusted senders at all since phishing attempts are becoming more expert. It also emphasized to double check if the website's domain is a proper one.

The National Tax Administration opened the simplified year-end tax adjustment service on Sunday, allowing people to confirm and download the simplified tax adjustment data through Hometax, a website that allows taxpayers to take care of tax affairs online.

BY LEE HAY-JUNE [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]