Today one of my clients received an SMS wherein they need to respond for Income Tax Refund. Instantly SMS was sent to me for further needful. As I am aware of the client's Income Tax Refund status, I advised not to respond and I will verify the same.
After due diligence, I thought to publish the report so that some innocent people may be saved from this Large Scam.
Why I had doubts:
1) I am aware of Income Tax status of the client.
2) Income Tax never sends SMS to upload bank details straight away.
3) Link of the same was not of the authentic website of Indian Income Tax Department.
4) It was received from a commercial platform (BZ-ITDEFL) and not a Government one.
Observation:
What I observed was that the Income Tax Web Site welcome page was apparently copied with minute flaws (viz. absence of live ticker, absence of employee's login etc.) which is highly possible to be overlooked.
I am attaching a screenshot of both FAKE and ORIGINAL webpage for better comparison.
Modus Operandi:
The client enters the required bank account information along with their phone number. Subsequently, with a fake FIR fraudster manages to procure duplicate SIM and then apply for forget password for net banking.
Wollah...... They have all that was required.
By the time the victim is aware of fraud, their fate is SEALED.
Take Away:
1) Don't get Lured:
Fraudster always serves you Free. In this case, it was an Income Tax Refund. So don't get lured. Know your eligibility in the first place.
2) Check for Authenticate Link:
Check for the authenticate links. The link must contain the original name of the web owner in the first place, followed by a hyphen and then suffixes.
3) Consult Professional:
In case of Refund or any legal/financial matter, connect to your financial advisor and get the update before self-motivated moves.
4) NEVER Share Confidential Information
Except in IVR voice recording system, do not share any information. Even account numbers and Phone numbers to anyone.
Trust this comes informative to many.
Thanks for reading.
After due diligence, I thought to publish the report so that some innocent people may be saved from this Large Scam.
Why I had doubts:
1) I am aware of Income Tax status of the client.
2) Income Tax never sends SMS to upload bank details straight away.
3) Link of the same was not of the authentic website of Indian Income Tax Department.
4) It was received from a commercial platform (BZ-ITDEFL) and not a Government one.
Observation:
What I observed was that the Income Tax Web Site welcome page was apparently copied with minute flaws (viz. absence of live ticker, absence of employee's login etc.) which is highly possible to be overlooked.
I am attaching a screenshot of both FAKE and ORIGINAL webpage for better comparison.
Modus Operandi:
The client enters the required bank account information along with their phone number. Subsequently, with a fake FIR fraudster manages to procure duplicate SIM and then apply for forget password for net banking.
Wollah...... They have all that was required.
By the time the victim is aware of fraud, their fate is SEALED.
Take Away:
1) Don't get Lured:
Fraudster always serves you Free. In this case, it was an Income Tax Refund. So don't get lured. Know your eligibility in the first place.
2) Check for Authenticate Link:
Check for the authenticate links. The link must contain the original name of the web owner in the first place, followed by a hyphen and then suffixes.
3) Consult Professional:
In case of Refund or any legal/financial matter, connect to your financial advisor and get the update before self-motivated moves.
4) NEVER Share Confidential Information
Except in IVR voice recording system, do not share any information. Even account numbers and Phone numbers to anyone.
Trust this comes informative to many.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment