Taxpayers beware! Sars warn of new email scam

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) shared a public service announcement this week, warning tax payers of a new email scam doing the rounds.

Consider this your PSA, and our ‘be on your guard’ message to everyone.

Sars email scam

The latest scam to trick South Africans is an email which appears to be sent from Gauteng.gov.za.

It will like be titled ‘Urgent letter from SARS attached for your attention’. Attached to the mail is a PDF with a clickable button named ‘View account in arrears’.

Sars is waving a big red flag here: Don’t click on suspicious links. If you hover your mouse over the link, you’ll see it’s not an official Gauteng government link.

Constant barrage of Sars scams

Sadly, attempts to swindle taxpayers aren’t exactly rare these days. Sars said a whopping 332 scams exploiting the revenue service’s name.

In fact, the same warning was issued back in 2022.

If you receive any suspicious mails, call the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Hotline on 080 000 2870 or reach out to Sars at phishing@sars.gov.za.

Beware of scams and phishing

Do not open or respond to emails from unknown sources. Remember, SARS will never send you hyperlinks to other websites – even those of banks.
#FraudAwareness #InternationalFraudAwarenessWeek pic.twitter.com/p1GRyGNy1m

— SA Revenue Service (@sarstax) November 18, 2022

Sars also shared a few handy hints for staying scam-proof.

Scam-proofing tips from Sars

First and foremost, don’t click on suspicious links. Also, don’t open or respond to emails from unknown sources.

Beware of emails asking for personal, tax, banking and eFiling details. Sars say it will never ask for your banking details, ever.

They will, however, verify your personal details over the phone. But they won’t send you hyperlinks to other websites.

Sars also won’t send any mails with *.htm or *.html attachments, and the service and its representatives will never ask for you credit card details.

Checking your account status

If you want to check your account status, do it the safe way.

Send an SMS to SARS at 47277 with the following wording: Balance (Space) ID number/Passport number.

READ: Beware, South Africa: WhatsApp scams you need to avoid