“Another fraud: random addresses sending income tax assessment orders. Be careful and be aware of this fraud,” he warned.
Notably, the fake notice asked the user to upload documents to an unofficial link and did not attach the password protected notice document in the email. The fraud email in question was also sent from a non-I-T department affiliated address. See below:
What is an income tax notice, and who receives it?
An Income Tax Notice is a formal communication from the Income Tax Department (ITD) sent to a taxpayer for various reasons.
Taxpayers who receive an income tax notice are not always at fault, since getting this notice can also signal something wrong with your filing. It can also signal unreported income, mismatches in data (like Form 26AS vs. ITR), or requests for clarification/documents. Income tax notices need to be addressed promptly to avoid penalties.
How to verify if your tax notice is real or fake?
Tax season is here and receiving an I-T notice after filing your returns can be stressful for many taxpayers. However, keeping a cool mind is important in order to protect yourself from fraudsters looking to take advantage of the confusion and panic.
Checklist to verify if your I-T notice is real or fake:
The I-T department follows protocols and guidelines when they send a tax notice, which you can use as identifying marks to verify purported tax emails by yourself.
