Various scams are disseminated by SMS, as well as by e-mail, by usurping the identity of the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP). This summer, fake fines and fake tax refunds in your favor are on the rise.
The case is important enough for the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) to issue the warning at the forefront of its website impts.gouv. Text messages are currently circulating to defraud users. They are of type FINES.GOUV: Please note that you have an unpaid parking fine. To avoid any increase, regularize your situation as soon as possible by using the link below.
Except that this is a trick to push you to act in an emergency and without thinking. This scam has a variant: the false announcement of an upcoming refund, as seen in the screenshot below. A skillful technique at this period since the tax authorities – the real ones – made a refund of income tax to millions of taxpayers at the end of July and beginning of August.
There are recurring signs of fraud and should encourage mistrust: spelling or syntax errors, requests for detailed information or bank details.
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In general, by SMS or e-mail, do not click on the links received indicating that you must pay an invoice, a fine or taxes. If in doubt, contact the department concerned by another channel (via your personal account, by email or telephone), writing to the DGFiP.
To obtain tax information for individuals, the numbers to use are:
- either ordinary telephone numbers for local calls (in 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05) which are those of the public finance centres;
- or the single non-surcharged number (price of a local call): 0809401401.
The General Directorate of Public Finance never asks for bank details, personal information, identification data of suppliers and customers, information on invoices or on the references of financial contacts by e-mail or telephone.