Finance Ministry Warns of Fake Tax Messages, 18 October
Published
Austria's Finance Ministry (BMF) warned on Sunday 18 October about a growing number of fraud attempts that imitate the tax authorities. Fraudsters use SMS, email, messenger apps, phone calls, social media, fake websites styled like FinanzOnline and forged tax notices. Their aim is to get hold of personal data and to push people into transferring money. They pretend to be the Finance Ministry, the Finance Office Austria, the Customs Office or FinanzOnline.
The ministry lists the most common tricks: announced tax refunds and reimbursements, a missing application for the Klimabonus, a required confirmation so that family allowance can be paid, suspicious login attempts or required updates at FinanzOnline, open claims and threatened seizures, requests for further checks, and questions about crypto assets. One example message claims that no Klimabonus application has been filed and that a deadline is approaching. Another says family payments were redirected and asks people to confirm their account data by the end of the week. The ministry stresses that such messages, websites and attachments are all forgeries.
This concerns everyone living in Austria, private persons and business owners alike. The ministry says it delivers information only as digitally signed notices, by post or into the FinanzOnline Databox. It never asks people to hand over passwords, credit card data or account details.
What to do: do not follow the instructions in such a message, never click links or open files, and never give out personal data. The ministry recommends deleting such messages at once and ending such calls at once. If in doubt, look up the official phone number of the supposed sender yourself and call back. Messages or calls with similar content are very likely attempts at fraud.
Sources: ORF, Bundesministerium für Finanzen
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