Aaj Logo

Published 01 Sep, 2023 09:17am

How ‘fake’ FBR emails can steal your data

The Federal Board of Revenue gives the option to claim tax refunds, but it is worth one’s time to ensure that you are not losing money to scams instead.

Income Tax Refunds are offered if a person or company has paid more taxes that it was actually liable for. However, refunds are offered by the FBR only if the person filed the returns electronically.

A Facebook user named Nadeem Akhtar recently pointed out that the refund scheme is leading to possible phishing scams.

The user posted a screenshot of an email, purportedly from the FBR, offering a refund worth over Rs200,000.

However, the email asked for the user’s bank details to be submitted for the refund and invited the user to log in through a link in the email.

It is important to exercise caution when matters involving money or personal details are concerned. No major organisation, especially one affiliated with the government, usually asks for log ins through email links. Such a thing is more likely to be a phishing scam.

To make sure that you are actually not missing out on a refund you are entitled to, it is safe to go on to the FBR’s official website and log in from there.

It is also advisable that your passwords should be as strong as possible, contain no recognisable words, and contain special characters.

Read Comments