How To Protect Yourself From ITR Refund Frauds

The last date for filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) is July 31. This has resulted in many people filing for their returns quickly to avoid the last date and hassle. The Income Tax Department has also started the process of verifying the returns and depositing refunds in the accounts of the taxpayers.

Along with the Income Tax Department, the scammers have become quite active. The cyber thugs have resorted to new tactics to scam people and steal their money. Hence, everyone needs to take a precautionary measure and save themselves from financial fraud.

Cyber thugs have resorted to income tax refunds as a means to steal money from people’s bank accounts. These criminals have been sending fake messages “Your refund has been approved”. After this, many such cases have come to light from across the country. Now, the Income Tax Department has issued an advisory.

If you have filed an ITR and are waiting for your refund, then you need to be very careful. The fake messages that are sent out as a part of the scam read, “Income tax refund of Rs 15,490 has been approved in your name. The amount will be credited to your account soon. Please verify your account number 5XXXXXXX6755, if it is not correct then go to the link given below and update your bank account details.”

Upon receiving this message, taxpayers should not react or respond to such messages. If you click on the given link, then you will find your bank account number to be wrong. This is a fake website and if you update your account number here, an OTP will sent to you. As soon as you enter the OTP, the scammers will hack into your account and commit financial fraud.

Income Tax Department does not send any SMS or email containing a link to the taxpayer. After processing the ITR, the Income Tax Department directly refunds the money in the same bank account of the taxpayer which was provided while filing the ITR. If the department needs any information related to the bank account, then it sends a message to the registered email of the taxpayer.

Make sure to never respond to such messages, especially those that ask you to verify the account number or other information.