---
title: Your Accountant Is Stressed. Hackers Know It.
description: Tax season is prime time for phishing scams. Learn why hackers target busy businesses in March—and 4 simple ways to protect your team without slowing down.
---

[Blog ](https://www.connections.com/blog)

# [Your Accountant Is Stressed. Hackers Know It.](https://www.connections.com/blog/your-accountant-is-stressed.-hackers-know-it)

 Written by [Connections for Business](https://www.connections.com/blog/author/connections-for-business) | Mar 16, 2026 12:00:00 PM

It’s March.  
Your accountant looks like they’ve been drinking espresso out of a fire hose.  
Your bookkeeper’s inbox has smoke coming out of it.  
Everyone's sprinting toward tax deadlines like it’s the finish line at a marathon.

Sound familiar?

Guess what — hackers think so too.  
And they *love* it.

**Hackers Don’t Guess. They Plan.**

Security experts see it every year:  
During tax season, scammy emails (called phishing) spike by almost **28%**.

These messages aren’t obvious.  
They blend in.  
They look like normal business stuff — right when everyone’s too busy to think twice.

Coincidence?  
Nope.  
It’s *strategy*.

**The “Everyone’s in a Rush” Danger Zone**

Here’s what hackers are really targeting:  
**The chaos.**

During tax season:

And that’s where mistakes happen.  
Hackers don’t hit chill businesses.  
They hit **busy** ones.  
And March is the Olympics of busy.

**What These Scams Look Like**

No flashing red alerts. No Hollywood drama.  
Just emails that look *normal*, like:

They don’t *feel* suspicious.  
They feel like regular March madness.  
That’s why they work.

**Why Smart People Fall for Dumb Scams**

It’s not about being careless.  
It’s about being **busy**.

When inboxes are exploding and deadlines are tight, people skim.  
They assume.  
They click.

Hackers count on that.  
They design these scams for people moving too fast to spot what’s off.  
They don’t need you to be reckless.  
Just… rushed.

And in March, *everyone’s* rushed.

**Four Easy Ways to Stay Safe (Without a Security Degree)**

You don’t need a fancy IT team to stay safe.  
Just use a few good habits — especially during busy months:

**1. Double-check payment changes**

If a vendor says their bank info changed, *don’t email back*.  
Call the number you already have and confirm it.  
One phone call can save you a ton of money and a lot of swearing.

**2. Pause when something feels urgent**

Urgency is a red flag.  
If someone wants W-2s *now*, stop and check.  
Real requests can wait 5 minutes. Scammers can’t.

**3. Use a second channel**

If you get an “urgent” email, confirm it another way — phone, text, or chat.  
It takes 30 seconds and can stop a bad day before it starts.

**4. Tell your team it’s okay to slow down**

Give your team permission to ask questions, verify stuff, and not rush.  
A quick reminder that “fast” doesn’t mean “safe” can save a whole mess later.

**The Takeaway**

Tax season is stressful enough.  
Don’t add “got scammed” to your to-do list.

These attacks aren’t magic. They’re just well-timed.  
They work because people are in survival mode.

You don’t need to overhaul your systems.  
You just need to *pause*, *verify*, and give your team room to think.

**Sanity Check Time?**

Maybe your team already has solid habits. Awesome.

But if tax season makes everything feel like a fire drill — or you’re not sure how well your team handles fishy emails — it might be worth a quick **10-minute discovery call**.

No scare tactics. No pressure.  
Just a gut check to make sure small habits don’t turn into big problems.

[Book your 10-minute discovery call here](https://www.connections.com/meetings/dbennett1/1-1call)

Or forward this to someone who’s deep in tax season and could use a hand.

 

[View full post](https://www.connections.com/blog/your-accountant-is-stressed.-hackers-know-it)

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