Inland Revenue warns about new tax return scam

Wednesday, 19 December 2018

Inland Revenue is warning Kiwis to avoid clicking the link in a fake tax return email scam circulating.

It has received more than a dozen complaints about it.

The email from 'provider@ird-taxingreturn.co.nz' addresses people as a number and asks them to claim their tax returns via a link.

Spokesman Baden Campbell said about 20 customers had notified the tax department about this particular scam over the past two days.

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'We always advise people not to click on the link but to hover your mouse over it. If the website address that appears is something that doesn't end in ird.govt.nz, then you should be very suspicious,' Campbell said.

Campbell said Inland Revenue heard about scams such as this on a regular basis.

In July it warned about a 'sophisticated' phishing scam that also tried to get people to claim a tax refund which the department had been unable to automatically pay.

Anyone who receives an email they are unsure about should notify Inland Revenue at phishing@ird.govt.nz.