Don't just send data: tax administration warns of fraudulent emails and SMS
If you receive a tax refund via SMS or email, alarm bells should start ringing immediately. This is because fraudsters are currently using this method to target personal data.
Scammers are targeting people with emails and SMS claiming to be from the German tax authority, promising tax refunds in exchange for personal data. The tax administration warns against responding to these attempts or opening links from the messages, as sensitive data could be compromised. The tax administration only sends notifications by email, which never contain tax data, invoices or refund information. They also never request personal data such as bank connections, credit card numbers or Elster security query answers.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
