Here’s how to escape the scam of the false income tax refund 2022

Scammers are taking advantage of the Income Tax refund payment by the Internal Revenue Service to try to steal customer data through messages sent by email. The messages arrive in the inbox in the middle of the IR 2022 declaration delivery campaign, whose deadline is May 31.

In general, the emails inform that the taxpayer has a refund amount to be received and indicate some link or field in which the citizen needs to click to check the amounts and have access to the money. The email has the gov.br logo — from the federal government — and takes advantage of the hundred years of the Income Tax to appear that it is an official document sent by the tax authorities.

By clicking on the link indicated below —in a blue bar — the worker can have his data stolen and, with it, scammers can commit fraud on behalf of the taxpayer, such as taking bank loans, paying high bills, shopping and even transferring money to yes.

Emilio Simoni, chief security executive at PSafe, an internet security company, explains that there are many scams and that they are seasonal, that is, they occur according to the season. In this case, fraudsters take advantage of the IR campaign. If the taxpayer opens the link on the computer, the scammer is waiting for the citizen to make a banking operation, also on the computer, to invade the checking or savings account.

If the worker opens the sent link on his cell phone, he will be subject to even more fraud, as it will be possible to access applications and make transactions, especially in shopping, delivery and subscription apps.

See the care with the email received:

• Never click on links, as the Revenue does not send anything by email or SMS
• Check the information on the e-CAC Portal, as the IR transactions will all be there
• Pay attention to the Pix key informed, which, in this scam, is an email, that is, standard for everyone, even for those who registered other miscellaneous keys
• Another tip about the Pix key is that the IRS will pay the tax refund for Pix this year, but only if the key is the taxpayer’s CPF
• The 2022 refund has not yet started to be released; the tax authorities are paying off the lots from previous years, from those who left the fine mesh of other years

This year, refunds begin to be paid on May 31. See calendar:

• Taxpayers aged 60 and over (prioritizing those over 80), people with physical or mental disabilities or serious illness and professionals whose main source of income is teaching have priority in the payment of the refund

Recipe does not send links

“The Federal Revenue does not send WhatsApp or email to the taxpayer with links. The official communication channel is always through e-Cac. In case of doubts, always confirm in the e-Cac inbox [se há alguma comunicação]. If there is no warning there, it is most likely a coup attempt”, says Beatriz Finochio, a specialist in tax law.

Fabricio Polido, from the area of ​​innovation and technology at LO Baptista and associate professor at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), says that the main and most important tip is that most public agencies do not send messages without the authorization of the citizen.

“It is important to remember that, like many federal public administration bodies, the IRS only sends an email or SMS message with the express consent of the taxpayer. This authorization is always done in advance. In other words, a recipient must have previously authorized the contact”, explains.

Refund from previous years is being paid

This year, the Federal Revenue paid two batches of refund to taxpayers who left the fine mesh of previous years. In all, according to the tax authorities, R$ 772.5 million have already been released to 647,796 taxpayers.

The refund consultation is done on the Revenue website, with the taxpayer’s CPF and date of birth. If the money does not arrive in the account, the request for the amounts at Banco do Brasil can be made through the website or through the BB relationship center through the telephone numbers 4004-0001 (capital), 0800-7290001 (other locations) and 0800-7290088 ( special telephone exclusively for the hearing impaired).

The taxpayer who has not redeemed the money at Banco do Brasil after a period of one year must request it through the e-CAC Portal, accessing the menu “Declarations and Demonstratives”, “My Income Tax” and clicking on “Request a refund redeemed in the banking network”.