Remember those emails from the UN secretary general or the RBI governor? The ones imploring you to send your bank details so that they could deposit a few million dollars into your account because you have a secret admirer who had bequeathed you his entire wealth on his deathbed?
Or those emails claiming to be alerts from your bank, asking you to login to your netbanking account in order to rectify some account problems?
These are widely known scams and most people can see through the deception. Banks will never prompt you for such details as they already have your data. Nor is the RBI or the UN ever going to deposit money into your account.
Now, there is yet another kind of email scam doing the rounds, and it becomes more frequent during the tax filing season. Here, emails disguised as notices from the Income Tax Department ask for your bank details on the pretence of refunding you the excess tax deducted at source. Since tax refunds are the bane of most taxpayers, some may be fooled by this scam.
How this scam works
Over the last few years, these incidents have been increasing at an alarming rate.
Because of the spread of the internet and online tax filing, cyber criminals have been targeting individuals with income tax return as the bait. Their modus operandi is simple. You will get an email that looks and feels like a notice from the IT Department. The notice says the government owes you money.
Most people are now aware that emails promising millions of dollars are from fraudsters and should be ignored. Hence, income tax scammers deliberately keep the promised amount relatively lower to make the scam more believable.
The email further demands that you furnish your bank account details in order to receive the tax refund. You are taken to a fake website of the IT Department from where you are directed to a fake login page for your bank account.
Many people, not well versed with internet and online security, fall for this scam. They think they are logging in to their bank accounts, but they are actually divulging details like their username, password and secret code to cyber criminals, who then enter their account to steal their money.
Income Tax Department’s warning to taxpayers
Similar to banks issuing warning to account holders, the IT Department has warned taxpayers to ignore such emails and avoid divulging information about their bank accounts online. Since the IT Department already has all your details including your PAN number, bank account number, address, identification proof, and your tax filing history, they do not need these details again. Moreover, they will never ask for these details on email or otherwise.
The major worry for the IT Department is that cyber criminals use official-sounding email addresses such as refund-tax@incometax.gov.in, which misleads the taxpayer into thinking they have received an official email.
How to safeguard yourself
First, do not believe such emails. Simply delete them. The Income Tax Department will never demand these details on email. Even if you get a phone call from someone asking you to verify your personal details and login information, do not respond.
Second, save the links of your banking websites in a file or simply bookmark them. Avoid going to those websites through any other route. While entering your login information, always check if the browser’s address bar contains the correct address.
Third, if you want to know the status of your tax refund, go to the NSDL website (https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html). You just need to enter your PAN number and the assessment year for which you filed the refund request. Alternatively, you could contact the Aayakar Sampark Kendra on their toll free number (1800-180-1961). For Bangalore CPC, the number is 1800-425-2229.
Finally, your password, ATM code, grid numbers etc. are for your eyes only. Do not, under any circumstance, share them with anyone. Nobody will need it unless he is looking to steal your hard-earned money. And remember, secure website URLs always start with ‘https’.