Identifying And Avoiding A Tax Scam

Overview

Scams have become more prevalent in recent years, with more people falling victim to fraudsters who have become more sophisticated. More individuals have had their personal information compromised as a result of tax scams.

Being able to identify a tax scam can go a long way towards protecting your information.

How To Go About Identifying And Avoiding A Tax Scam

One of the most common methods of scamming people is phishing. This is a form of electronic fraud where your personal details and banking information is collected in an attempt to access your account.

You may receive an email that appears to come from the South African Revenue Services (SARS) or another government department, typically telling you that you have qualified for a tax refund or that there’s something wrong with your account and that you must act quickly.

If you receive suspicious email links you need to make sure that you check for incorrect spelling and that the email address is correct. Avoid clicking on suspicious links.

It’s Important to Keep your Computer and Smartphone Virus-Free.

Using strong passwords will also help.

One of the ways of identifying and avoiding a tax scam involves keeping informed about changes introduced by the tax regulatory body. In South Africa, SARS will inform you once your tax return has already been filed. It’s important to never let anyone file a tax return on your behalf and make sure that you keep SARS up to date with your personal details.

As a way of protecting your personal details, make sure that you are careful about what you throw away. Make sure that you destroy it properly. Keep in mind that you cannot change your banking details without physically going into a SARS branch. Never share your login details with anyone.