Revenue Email Scam

Irish entrepreneurs warned of Revenue email scam

A leading cyber security firm has warned Ireland’s entrepreneurs of a new email phishing scam designed to enable cyber-criminals to access sensitive financial information from unsuspecting small businesses.

ESET Ireland has alerted the nation to a highly-detailed tax refund phishing email that is reaching inboxes across the country, purporting to be from Revenue.

The scam email warns users that “due to a technical issue” it was not possible for Revenue to “process your tax refund”, with the procedure left “on hold”.

It goes on to encourage users to “follow the instructions” outlined on their “dedicated site 24/7 to get [their] tax refund now”.

Those convinced to click the phishing link within the email are transferred to a fake Irish Revenue page, which goes to great lengths to appear genuine by utilising ‘https’ security.

Although the alternative web address may be enough to deter some web-savvy entrepreneurs, it doesn’t prevent all individuals from entering their credit or debit card details to ‘finalise’ their tax returns.

Those duped into handing their financial data over are giving this sensitive information to cyber-criminals that will potentially drain all available money from their business accounts.

ESET Ireland’s cybercrime analyst, Urban Schrott, believes scams pretending to be Revenue have been commonplace for several years and cyber-criminals are endeavouring to improve their techniques to make their phishing websites more believable and realistic.

Mr Schrott said that the criminals are “fine-tuning and optimising” their scamming techniques to “appear more credible and trustworthy”.

Schrott admits it is becoming increasingly harder “for their victims to detect the scam in time and avoid it”.

ESET Ireland urges Irish entrepreneurs to be vigilant when scouring through their email inboxes, deleting suspicious emails without clicking any of the links embedded in a suspect email.

If you are in any doubt as to the legitimacy of any communications purporting to be from Revenue, please don’t hesitate to contact your local TaxAssist Accountant for swift clarification.

You can call our friendly, experienced team on 01 518 0535 or drop us a line using our online enquiry form.

Date published 19 Dec 2018 | Last updated 2 May 2024