At a time when the income tax returns filing date of July 31 is fast approaching, the I-T department is warning people to look out for fraudulent refund emails and messages.
When you log into the official income tax websites (http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home and www.incometaxindia.gov.in), the first window that pops up reads 'Beware of Fake Refund Messages sent by Fraudsters' in bold font. It warns the taxpayers to not share their PINs, OTPs, passwords or any access information for their debit/credit cards, bank accounts, etc.
All your account details are already available with the I-T department, you need not furnish it once again from your end is what they are underlining.
Right at the top of the pop-up box, a link to the list of all the official email and SMS campaigns that were sent by the I-T department is given. If you click on the link, it takes you to another window which contains all the emails and SMSes date wise, for your reference.
How to identify fraudulent emails?
Look at the email address, not just from who the email is from. No legitimate organisation will contact you from an email address that ends with '@gmail.com.' Fraudsters even try to remove a letter here, there from the incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and try their luck. So, be very careful on that count.
More importantly, taxpayers need to understand that generally the emails sent by the I-T department are system generated and you are not required to respond to the emails. If you look at the from the address of the emails, you will notice the emails are from 'DONOTREPLY@incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in'
address until and unless it is a mail that is sent addressing you. Even then, the mail address like we stressed earlier will end with '@incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.'
What should you do if you receive such emails?
Other than causing financial losses, such emails can also harm your device. If there are any links or attachments with the emails, please do not click on it or download it as it may contain malicious code. All you have to do is, forward the email or website URL to phishing@incometax.gov.in and incident@cert-in.org.in. Do not forget to delete the mail from your inbox and then from the trash folder too.