Do not click on any short link asking for your personal information and bank details including PIN and OTP.
Taxpayers are requested not to click on any such link which promises to facilitate ITR filing or give refund.
After the completion of the Income Tax Return (ITR) filing season, taxpayers have started receiving tax refunds in their bank accounts. Similarly, miscreants have started preying on unsuspecting taxpayers by sending fake SMS with phishing links. For example, “Important Alert to Taxpayers! Dear xxxxxxxx, lncometax_Department requires that you click on the link below to submit a formal request for payment of your unclaimed and overdue tax refund of xx,xxx INR. https://151.80.90.62/ITRefund.” Many unsuspecting taxpayers may mistake this as an authentic SMS sent by the Income Tax Department to claim their tax refund. However, the opposite is the case.
Taxpayers receiving such messages are requested not to click on any link that promises to facilitate ITR filing or refund. Because it is a trap or digital fraud! Always remember that no government organization or department ever send individual SMS or mail for any document or KYC or returns. Do not click on any short link asking for your personal information and bank details including PIN and OTP.
Also, any attachments sent by mail should not be considered. Such attachments can also steal your data including financial information or contact details. Hence it is advised not to trust such personal messages sent by unknown and unverified numbers. In case of Income Tax Returns, taxpayers are requested to visit the official website of the department- http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. You can also check the status of your return through this website.
How to check a fake SMS?
The department has also published a detailed note on reporting and detection of phishing, fraudulent refund e-mail scams and fake income tax websites on its website.
The IT department has clarified that it does not send e-mails requesting detailed personal information, nor does it send e-mails requesting PINs, passwords, or other information for credit card or bank accounts.
If you click on a link sent by scammers in a fraudulent SMS, you may be asked to submit sensitive information such as username, password and credit card information. This is a classic case of phishing, in which an attempt is made to enter information into a fake website that looks and feels almost identical to the legitimate website.
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