It happened last year around this time, and it’s happening again this year.

The SA Revenue Service is again warning citizens to be wary of an email hoax that is doing the viral rounds – it was received in the BlaBla Homestead last night, so they aren’t exaggerating the issue.

Sample SARS refund hoax email The email, looking very authentic and genuine with SARS logo and all, claims that the Revenue Service have completed your annual assessment and want to pay your tax refund to you! “Yay, free money from the tax man”, you think and off you go to do as the email suggests – enter your bank account details into an online form so that your refund can be processed directly into your account.

Err, not.

DO NOT EVER ENTER YOUR BANKING INFORMATION INTO ANY FORM ON A WEB SITE, NO MATTER HOW GENUINE IT SEEMS TO BE! You are running a great risk of having your entire bank account emptied within moments of submitting the form.

And the websites that the email directs you to can look very convincing:

Fake SARS EFiling site

Fake SARS banking info site

This is a classic phishing attempt by unscrupulous people trying to steal your personal information and desperate to do as little as possible to liberate your cash! Don’t help them by being naive.

See the real, official SARS website for more info on this hoax.

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