Most of us tend to feel panicky when receiving correspondence from SARS, especially if it is marked “urgent” or if it threatens legal action or some other dire consequence. Unfortunately, there continues to be a growing trend of scammers using this anxiety to easily persuade organisations and individuals to make payments to fraudulent bank accounts, by generating increasingly sophisticated correspondence. Scammers are also using our human desire to receive money back from SARS to phish for bank details.
SARS has a useful section on its sars.gov.za website for examples of scams and what to do about them.
Here are two very recent examples:
- Outstanding tax payments
Notice the tell-tale signs:
- The letter is not addressed to the organisation – name, address and tax reference numbers are missing!
- While not visible above, such a letter will not come from the domain sars.gov.za. Don’t be fooled by scam domains, such as “sars.co.za”.
- Refund-related phishing messages
Trying to obtain bank details could take the form of an email below or another form of message, such as a SMS:
The refund scams will all be looking for your personal or organisational details, especially bank details.
| SARS requests that any such emails or messages received are reported to phishing@sars.gov.za or that taxpayers call the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 00 2870. To check whether your email or message is invalid, use SARS’s website: Scams and Phishing | South African Revenue Service (sars.gov.za). |
If you have any doubts or concerns, please contact the organisation’s or your personal tax practitioner. Those familiar with the individual or organisation’s tax situation will be able to confidently determine whether anything is owing or owed to SARS.
