ESET Ireland

In the recent days ESET Ireland has detected an increased spam run of a fraudulent “Notice of Tax Return” purporting to come from Irish Tax and Customs.

A large percentage of Irish email addresses has been targeted with a “Notice of Tax Return” spam in the last days of 2013. The full email reads:

Dear Sir / Madam   , 
I am sending this email to announce: After the last annual
calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you
are eligible to receive a tax return of:

EUR 371.91

To receive your return, you need to create a Government gateway
account.

Please download and complete the attached form.

And the attached file opens a faked page resembling Irish Tax and Customs with a form that asks the victim to disclose their address and debit card information.

The phishing site that collects victims’ information is linked to a domain registered in the USA.

Irish Tax and Customs is aware of the fraud and is warning about it on their website. They state the following:

• These emails did not issue from Revenue.

• The Revenue Commissioners never send emails requiring customers to send personal information via email or pop-up windows.

• Anyone who receives an email purporting to be from Revenue and suspects it to be fraudulent or a scam should simply delete it. Anyone who is actually awaiting a tax refund should contact their local Revenue Office to check its status.

• Anyone who provided personal information in response to these fraudulent emails should contact their bank or credit card company immediately.

For more information thes also offer advice on their Security Page.

ESET Ireland would like to add the following:

• If you receive an email you’re not sure about, do not click on the attachment or reply to it.

• If an email purports to be from a bank, the tax office or any other institution, it is always better to ring them first, to make sure they actually sent you something.