The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has warned the public of a new scam circulating via SMS and email claiming that recipients are owed a refund and directing them to a fraudulent website to claim it.
SARS said that scammers are now using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate professional-looking email templates that are harder to identify as fraudulent.
“If you receive it, please delete and block it. If in doubt, email the SARS IT Security team or visit the Scams and Phishing webpage to see the latest scam examples,” SARS advised taxpayers.
The security team can be contacted at phishing@sars.gov.za, and the phishing webpage is at https://www.sars.gov.za/targeting-tax-crime/scams-and-phishing/. Taxpayers can also contact the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 00 2870.
Members of the public are randomly emailed false “spoofed” emails that appear to be from SARS but are in fact fraudulent attempts to entice unsuspecting taxpayers to part with personal information, such as bank account details.
Examples include emails that appear to be from returns@sars.co.za or refunds@sars.co.za indicating that taxpayers are eligible to receive tax refunds.
These emails contain links to false forms and fake websites made to look like the “real thing” but with the aim of fooling people into entering personal information such as bank account details, which the criminals then extract and use fraudulently.
SARS said it will never request passwords, one-time PINs (OTPs), banking PINs, or eFiling login credentials through email, SMS, social media, or telephone.
“Taxpayers must use only official SARS channels and verify the credentials of any tax practitioner before sharing personal information. For a tax practitioner to charge you for their services, they must be registered,” SARS said.
Taxpayers can check whether a tax practitioner is registered with SARS and a Recognised Controlling Body (RCB) via https://secure.sarsefiling.co.za/TaxPractitionerQuery.aspx.
SARS taxpayers should take note of the following:
• Do not open or respond to emails from unknown sources.
• Beware of emails that ask for personal, tax, banking, and eFiling details (login credentials, passwords, PINs, credit/debit card information, etc.).
• SARS will never request your banking details in any communication that you receive via post, email, or SMS. However, for the purpose of telephonic engagement and authentication purposes, SARS will verify your personal details. Importantly, SARS will not send you any hyperlinks to other websites—even those of banks.
• Beware of false SMSs.
• SARS does not send .htm or .html attachments.
• SARS will never ask for your credit card details.
-SAnews.gov.za
