Scam, security
Beware of the following scam
An IIA Member has drawn our attention to the following scam. It is also being discussed on Boards.ie. As Maiken from CCD points out:
1. Revenue do not correspond by email, only in writing.
2. Revenue will ALWAYS quote your PPS number to you.
3. Revenue will never look for credit card details.
4. Revenue letterheads will always be used.
The test of the email is as follows:
From: Irish Tax & Customs [mailto:service@revenue.ie] Sent: 13 July 2009 09:52 Subject: Tax Refund Number 2009IE291771TAX48/190 ATTN: Dear Applicant, 2009 - Recalculation Tax Refund After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 284.23 EURO Your TRN (TAX REFUND NUMBER): 2 7 9 0 2 1 6 8 1 5, please fill the payment form attached in the email. Please submit the tax refund and allow us 3-9 business days in order to process it. Note: For security reasons, we recommend that you close your browser after you have finished accessing your refund status. - For security reasons, we will record your ip-address and date. - Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicted. Best Regards, George Thompson Tax Credit Office Agent info@revenue.ie Telephone: 0845 300 3900 Opening hours: 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, seven days a week
However this scam is particularly convincing and includes an attachment entitled “form_payment.pdf.htm” which opens the following:
This form also includes the same ominous warnings about false information leading to criminal indictment as if getting an email from the Revenue Commissioners offering to refund you money wasn’t enough of a shock 🙂
The Revenue Commissioners have posted a warning and recommend that you delete the email and if you did go so far as to include details, you should contact your bank immediately to take steps to protect your account from the scammers.