Received Income Tax refund messages? Beware! It may be fake

New Delhi, Dec 15: The Income Tax Department has warned citizens to stay alert about a new phishing scam being shared via SMS, which promises a refund for tax returns.

"Beware of fake refund messages claiming to be from the Income Tax Deptt. Please do not click on any link asking for bank details, Debit card/ CVV numbers. Don't fall prey to phishing!" the Income Tax department tweeted from its official handle on Thursday evening.

It further cautioned the taxpayers to beware of fake refund messages claiming to be from the IT department, saying "We will never ask for your debit card details or CVV number to process your refund." The message in very clear terms has asked people never take up such calls and never click at the messages which seek details related to their debit card.

Beware of fake refund messages claiming to be from the Income Tax Deptt. Please do not click on any link asking for bank details, Debit card/ CVV numbers. Don't fall prey to phishing! pic.twitter.com/ZybK0sRVFo

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 13, 2018

Twitter user Karthik Srinivasan, who has the handle @beastoftraal on Twitter had shared a sample of what one of the messages looks like.

The message claim to be for a refund amount of Rs 34,251, and says that the Income Tax department requires one to click the link below in order to submit a formal request for remittance of this refund amount, which is unclaimed. It also includes a bitly link.

I got this text message yesterday. It looked completely authentic. The amount looks real too, and not rounded off! It was very tempting to click the link and know more. Then I remembered something I use extensively in the background. @Bitly, the company behind the 1/5 pic.twitter.com/NqAa40sIMI

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) December 13, 2018

Twitter user Karthik Srinivasan, who has the handle @beastoftraal on Twitter had shared a sample of what one of the messages looks like.

The message claim to be for a refund amount of Rs 34,251, and says that the Income Tax department requires one to click the link below in order to submit a formal request for remittance of this refund amount, which is unclaimed. It also includes a bitly link.

As the phone number and the name of the person is accurate, people might tend to believe that the message is originally from the Income Tax Department. This is a classic phishing attempt in which the miscreants want to steal your SBI internet banking login details.

It is imporant to note that the Income Tax Department never ask citizens to provide any banking login details to get access to a service.