Scammers in Singapore are masquerading as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) to email victims in order to extract their personal particulars, particularly credit card numbers.

The email informs the victim that he/she is eligible for a tax refund, and requests that they download and fill in a tax refund form.

In another iteration of this scam, the victim is informed that there is an error with their tax report. They are then also asked to download a file containing a virus.

Here are some examples of the emails:

The email addresses even end with @iras.gov.sg to make it look more authentic.

Here are some tips from IRAS to detect such scams:

1) IRAS does not send out official emails from personal email accounts such as Hotmail, Gmail, or other unfamiliar email domains. 

2) Email replies are usually signed off with an officer's name, designation and contact information.

3) They also do not send out confidential documents such as tax return forms, notices of assessment, refund letters or other tax statements through unsecured emails.

Such documents are deposited in the secured tax portal at mytax.iras.gov.sg, and citizens should also use this portal for the submission of documents and confidential information.

4) IRAS will not ask you to provide your confidential personal details through emails.

If you have received any suspicious email, letter, SMS or phone call pertaining to IRAS, you may contact [email protected] or call 1800 356 8225 to verify its authenticity.

Those who have fallen victim are advised to lodge a police report, change their passwords or PINs on all online accounts, and contact their banks to stop any transactions.

For more information, head over to IRAS' page.

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