MANGALORE: SMSs and emails promising huge rewards are passe. Online fraudsters are now phishing in the name of the Income Tax department to lure netizens by sending out emails promising refund.
Phishing is an attempt to acquire information (and sometimes, indirectly, money) such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
When an email from re-funds_smk@incometaxindia.gov.in hit the inbox of Santhosh M, a professional, purportedly sent from the income tax unit, ministry of finance, India, stating they owed him a tax refund of Rs 39,910, his eyes lit up. A link in the email for submitting a refund request took him to his internet banking login gateway, which luckily aroused his suspicion and Santhosh ended the ‘transaction’ without logging in.
Confirming his fears that this was indeed an attempt at phishing was Mohan Kajarekar, public relations officer with Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Panaji. When the email received by Santhosh was forwarded to him for opinion, Mohan confirmed it was fraudulent mail. “We (the IT department) do not send any emails to IT assessees with regard to refund and any refund due to them is credited directly to their accounts,” he said.
All e-returns filed by IT assessees for a particular assessment year is processed at the central processing centre of the IT department in Bangalore and they do not send emails to assessees with regard to refunds. “Even in case where people file returns manually, they are sent letters informing them of refunds or additional requirements that the department may need to process their returns, which usually takes around six months,” he noted.
Moreover, the language used in the phishing email too is very crude and the IT department does not use such words to communicate with assessees, he said. People should be wary of such emails, he said adding that email id from which the phishing mail has been sent has been given an ‘official touch’. Giving personal details such as internet banking login in and password could leave their banking accounts vulnerable to hacking, he warned.