IRD scam targets 900 people with 'convincing' yet 'bogus' email

Monday, 22 July 2019

If you received an email about a tax refund over the weekend, you might have been caught up in a 'very wide-spread scam'.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is warning of a 'new and convincing email scam'.

'We've received more than 900 reports over the weekend,' according to IRD spokesperson Sharon Thompson.

But there are a few telltale mistakes in the 'bogus' email.

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'Embedded links can look quite convincing at first glance as ird.govt.nz can be included within the address. But if you hover over those links, you'll see Inland Revenue is not the destination,' Thompson said in a statement.

Inland Revenue shared a screenshot of the email in question to highlight what to watch for. It noted that the emails did not have a personalised greeting, that the IRD would not include a monetary amount, and that the IRD numbers included were false.

'In this particular scam, there is also no personalised greeting and what's listed as a person's IRD number is a wrong number.'

In the scam email shared on the Inland Revenue website, the recipient was informed they were eligible for a $319.27 refund, but as Thompson explained, 'Inland Revenue doesn't include dollar amounts in refund emails'.

Inland Revenue is currently working to have this scam taken down, but noted that other scams can arise any time.

Anyone who receives this email is encouraged to alert the IRD.

Within an hour of Stuff reporting on the email scam, a number of Kiwis reached out detailing their experience with the recent scam.

Have you been targeted by an email scam? Get in touch at newstips@stuff.co.nz.