Income Tax Refund Phishing Email Warning and Fake Income Tax Web Sites List

Income Tax Department warns against phishing emails promising tax refunds. Don’t click suspicious links or share personal info. Verify refund status only on the official website.  The Income Tax Department on Friday cautioned the public against phishing emails relating to tax refund and asked people not to click on suspicious links.

In a post on X, the I-T department said it never asks for bank details or personal information of a taxpayer via email.

“E- Filing Made Easy” Fake Income Tax Refund Email Warning! Received an email about an “Income Tax Refund” requiring urgent “manual confirmation? This is a #phishing scam! The IT Dept NEVER asks for bank details or personal information via email. Always verify refund status ONLY on the official website (http://incometax.gov.in).

Never click suspicious links! Click here for more details:

It advised taxpayers to verify refund status only on the official website ( incometax.gov.in).

Fake Income Tax Refund Email Warning! Received an email about an “Income Tax Refund” requiring urgent “manual confirmation? This is a #phishing scam!,” the I-T department said.

Reporting:

• If you receive an e-mail or find a website you think is pretending to be of Income Tax Department, forward the e-mail or website URL to webmanager@incometax.gov.in​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​. A copy may also be forwarded to incident@cert-in.org.in
• You may forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender.
• After you forward the e-mail or header information to us, delete the message.
• If you receive a phishing mail not pertaining to the Income Tax Department, forward the same to incident@cert-in.org.in

Fake Income Tax Website Like this

Key things to know about REAL Income Tax Department (ITD) websites and communications in India:

• Official Domain: The only official website for the Income Tax Department in India is www.incometax.gov.in.
• Official Email Domains: Emails from the ITD will only come from addresses ending in:
  • @incometax.gov.in
  • @tdscpc.gov.in
  • @gov.in
• Document Identification Number (DIN): Every official communication (notice, order, summons, letter) issued by the Income Tax Authorities after October 1, 2019, must have a unique DIN. You can authenticate this DIN on the official e-filing portal.
• No Pop-ups: The Income Tax Department will never contact you through pop-up windows.
• No Demands for Unusual Payments: The ITD will never ask for payments via gift cards, cryptocurrency, UPI to personal accounts, or wire transfers. They only accept payments through authorized banking channels and official portals.
• No Requests for Sensitive Info via Email/SMS/Calls: The ITD will never ask for your PAN, Aadhaar, bank details, OTPs, or credit/debit card numbers through unsolicited emails, SMS, or phone calls. All such information should only be provided by logging into your secure e-filing account on www.incometax.gov.in.
• Official Notices are on Your Portal: Even if an email looks real, always log in to your official Income Tax e-filing portal. If a notice isn’t there, it’s not from the department.
• Professional Language: Official communications are professionally drafted, free of spelling errors, awkward grammar, or weird formatting.
• Secure Connection: Always look for “https://” at the beginning of the website URL and a padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar.

Common Characteristics of FAKE Income Tax Websites and Scams in India:

• Unofficial Domains: This is the biggest red flag. Scammers use domains that look similar to the official one but are slightly off. Examples of types of fake domains you might see (but again, do not click on these if you encounter them):
  • incometax-refunds.com
  • tax-gov.net
  • incometaxindia.com (note: incometaxindia.nic.in was an older legitimate domain, but the current one is incometax.gov.in. Scammers might try variations of old domains.)
  • itr-refund.org
  • indiataxonline.info
  • taxsupport-india.net
  • refund-tax.org
  • govt-tax.net
  • Any domain ending in .org, .net, .info, .biz, or similar, especially if it claims to be a government service.
  • Domains with extra words or hyphens like income-tax-india.com or incometaxindia-gov.in.
• Threatening or Urgent Language: “Your PAN will be suspended immediately,” “Click here to avoid penalty,” “Refund withheld – last chance to claim.”
• Poor Grammar/Spelling: Many scam sites and emails have obvious errors.
• Requests for UPI to personal numbers, gift cards, or crypto.
• Links that don’t match the displayed URL when you hover over them.

By following these guidelines, you can significantly protect yourself from income tax scams in India.