Have you received an email from the tax office accusing you of tax fraud? Do not answer and above all do not pay!
You have received an email supposedly from the tax department claiming that you are guilty of tax fraud? You are the victim of a scam. Yes, because the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFIP) never sends such a notification by courier, reminds the DGFIP on its website.
Several waves of fraudulent messages impersonating tax services have been identified by Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr since last summer. In these emails always very impersonal (they do not mention your identity or your tax references), you are accused of fraud or tax evasion and you are asked to regularize this situation in a lead time of 48 or 72 hours under penalty of sanctions. To regularize, there is only one solution: pay several thousand euros. You will have understood, it is a scam aimed at stealing your money.
You are invited to contact the tax administration, by responding to the message or by writing an email address mentioned there. In certain cases, bank details (RIB) are communicated in the message to directly pay the requested amount by transfer, explains the Cybermalveillance service on its website.
What should you do if you receive this type of email?
These phishing messages are an attempted scam aimed at extracting money from victims who respond to them. So what should you do if you receive one in your mailbox?
- Don’t answer;
- Don’t pay;
- At the slightest doubt, contact directly the tax center on which you depend, or connect either to your impots.gouv private space or to the mobile application to check if you are subject to such a procedure. Without confirmation, consider this an attempted scam.
- Report the fraudulent message as Spam and the attempted fraud on the dedicated platform from the Minister of the Interior (Pharos): Internet-signalement.gouv.fr.
If you were scared when you received this email and paid the requested amount, immediately alert your bank of the fraudulent transaction to try to suspend the transfer if it has not yet been made. Otherwise, request the return of the funds. Please note, you will also need to file a complaint at the police station, providing the messages received as well as bank details or any other information that could be useful. It is also possible to receive advice in your efforts on the platform Scam Info of the Minister of the Interior.
If you are suspected of fraud or tax evasion, you will receive a letter with acknowledgment of receipt. Never an email.
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