The tax season opened officially on July 1 and many law-abiding taxpayers are getting ready to do their bit. Unfortunately, so too are the shady individuals and gangs who operate phishing scams. Particularly concerning is the fact that the current crop of fraudsters are sending out email messages about fake refunds which look very realistic and may well fool many an unsuspecting taxpayer. While some fake notifications are obvious scams which can easily be identified, concern is mounting about emails originating from an [email protected] address. A worrying factor is that in their emails they are now starting to mention refund amounts that make sense to potential victims.
SARS has created a section on its website to alert South Africans of any scams or phishing attacks. “Members of the public are randomly emailed with false ‘spoofed’ emails made to look as if these emails were sent from SARS, but (which) are in fact fraudulent emails aimed at enticing unsuspecting taxpayers to part with personal information such as bank account details. Examples include emails that appear to be from [email protected], or [email protected] indicating that tax payers are eligible to receive tax refunds.
“Please note these are scams,” SARS warned, adding that the taxman will not request your banking details through the phone, email or websites. It also advises tax payers to obtain verification from the SARS call centre or a branch, for instance. Never give out any details in response to these fake communications,” it said.