Scams and Phishing

Latest scam examples

SARS-SCAM-353 – Fiscal Assessment Report – 26 February 2024

SARS-SCAM-352 – Assessment of Tax Obligations Preventive Action-21 February 2024

SARS-SCAM-351 – Summons Notice – 19 December 2023

SARS-SCAM-350 – Tax review – 23 October 2023

SARS-SCAM-349 – Notice of Assessment – 23 October 2023

SARS-SCAM-348 – Credit audit complete – 7 September 2023

SARS-SCAM-347 – SMS payment from SARS – 11 August 2023

SARS-SCAM-346 – Audit statement – 2 August 2023

SARS-SCAM-345 – Email asking to click on Returns link – 2 August 2023

SARS-SCAM-344 – Stop order – 21 July 2023

SARS-SCAM-343 – SMS online payment – 12 July 2023

SARS-SCAM-342 – Email scam titled ‘eFiling Returns Complete’ – 29 June2023

SARS-SCAM-341 – Email scam titled ‘Statement of Account request’ – 29 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-340 – Email scam titled ‘Final Demand’ – 29 June2023

SARS-SCAM-339 – PayFast SMS scam – 28 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-338 – Email called Internal Communication from DIRCO – 26 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-337 – Income Tax or VAT Returns – 23 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-336 – View account in arrears – 6 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-335 – Tax Returns confirmation – 2 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-334 – Letter of demand – 2 June 2023

SARS-SCAM-333 – Tax Refunds email – 24 May 2023

SARS-SCAM-332 – View account in arrears – 23 May 2023

SARS-SCAM-331 – Telegram group – 4 May 2023

SARS-SCAM-330-Letter of demand-10 March 2023

SARS-SCAM-329 – Revenue letter – 23 February 2023

SARS-SCAM-328 – Tax notification – 23 February 2023

SARS-SCAM-327 – Office return SMS – 27 January 2023

SARS-SCAM-326-PayFast-Scam-26-December-2022

SARS-SCAM-325 – PayFast payment – 31 October 2022

SARS-SCAM-324 – Court Order – 25 October 2022

Scams and Phishing awareness

You need to be aware of email scams, and so we’ve created a section of the website where we will post updates of any scams we have heard about. Similarly, we would like you to tell us about any emails you think are scams or phishing. To report or to get more information on phishing, please send an email to [email protected] or call the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 00 2870. To see all current SARS surveys, emails and SMSs, click here

Members of the public are randomly emailed with false “spoofed” emails made to look as if these emails were sent from SARS, but are in fact fraudulent emails aimed at enticing unsuspecting taxpayers to part with personal information such as bank account details. Examples include emails that appear to be from [email protected] or [email protected] indicating that taxpayers are eligible to receive tax refunds. These emails contain links to false forms and fake websites made to look like the “real thing”, but with the aim of fooling people into entering personal information such as bank account details which the criminals then extract and use fraudulently.

Please note these are scams and SARS taxpayers should take note of the following:

  • Do not open or respond to emails from unknown sources.
  • Beware of emails that ask for personal, tax, banking and eFiling details (login credentials, passwords, pins, credit / debit card information, etc.).
  • SARS will never request your banking details in any communication that you receive via post, email, or SMS. However, for the purpose of telephonic engagement and authentication purposes, SARS will verify your personal details. Importantly, SARS will not send you any hyperlinks to other websites – even those of banks.
  • Beware of false SMSs.
  • SARS does not send *.htm or *.html attachments.
  • SARS will never ask for your credit card details.

Top Tip: In order for a tax practitioner to charge you for their services, they must be registered. You can check here whether your Tax Practitioner is registered with SARS and a Recognised Controlling Body (RCB).

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