Warning over fake Revenue email scam

The public has been warned of a scam in which emails, purporting to be from Revenue, ask people to fill in personal information, including bank details, in order to receive a tax refund.

The emails link to what appears to be a genuine page on the Revenue website. One such message told the recipient: “After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 560.80 EUR. To return the overpayment, we need to confirm a few more details, after which the funds will be credited.”

The page then asks for the person’s full name, credit card number, date expiration and card verification code as well as a “3D secure password”.

Revenue said it never sends emails requiring customers to send personal information via email or pop-up windows.

“Anyone who receives an email purporting to be from Revenue and suspects it to be fraudulent or a scam should simply delete it,” it said. “Anyone who is actually awaiting a tax refund should contact their local Revenue Office to check its status.

“Anyone who provided personal information in response to these fraudulent emails should contact their bank or credit card company immediately.”

It said people should note that their email addresses can often be found from publicly available sources, or randomly generated.

“Therefore if you receive a fake email that appears to be from Revenue, this does not mean that your email address, name or any other information has been gathered from Revenue’s systems,” the statement added.