With the passage of the last date of ITR filing on 31st July, cyber fraudsters have started trying to rob people by sending fake messages of refund. In such a situation, now income tax payers are being instructed to beware of such fake messages. The Income Tax Department has advised taxpayers not to fall prey to fake pop-up messages. People waiting for refund after filing ITR need to be careful.
Actually, cyber thugs are sending messages to people. It is being written that an income tax refund of Rs 15,000 has been approved in your name. It is written in the message that this amount will soon be credited to the taxpayer’s account. After this, after verifying the account number, you are asked to update the bank account details on a link. The Income Tax Department has asked the income tax payers not to give any response on such messages.
According to the Income Tax Department, this link takes income taxpayers to a fake website. When he updates his account there, an OTP is sent to him. As soon as that OTP is entered, scammers break into the bank account. Therefore, if any message related to income tax refund is coming on someone’s mobile, in which it is being said to verify the bank account number or any other information, then it is important to be cautious of such messages.
There is a risk of your bank account becoming empty if you reply to such messages. The Income Tax Department does not send any SMS or e-mail to the income taxpayers in which the link is given. After processing the ITR, the department sends the tax refund directly to the tax payer’s bank account, which he has given while filing the ITR. Along with this, this information is given through message on registered e-mail or mobile number.
If the department needs any information related to the bank account, then it sends a message on the registered e-mail of the taxpayer. Despite this, if someone falls into the trap of these fraudsters then he should use ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’. Through this, an amount of Rs 2,400 crore has been saved in more than 7.6 lakh complaints. This system is proving effective in immediately reporting online fraud and saving the looted money.
A toll-free helpline number ‘1930’ can be used for help in filing cyber complaints online. After the complaints made in this, more than 5.8 lakh SIM cards and 1 lakh 8 thousand IMEIs have been blocked. The conversion of cyber crime incidents reported on this portal into FIRs and the subsequent action is controlled by the respective states as per the provisions of the law.