Income Tax 2023: fine mesh scam steals data – 05/29/2023 – Market

Scammers are taking advantage of the last days of the deadline to deliver the 2023 Income Tax declaration to try to apply the “fine mesh coup” on taxpayers, according to an alert from the Federal Revenue.

Criminals send a malicious link via email or text message with the false information that the taxpayer’s statement fell into the fine mesh and there are errors that must be corrected by May 31, the final date for accountability.

To try to make the information real, in addition to using the name of the Federal Revenue, scammers send a kind of PDF, claiming to contain detailed information about the procedure for correcting errors.

In the subject of the message, criminals use the acronym IRPF (Individual Income Tax) and refer to possible victims as “taxpayers”, a term that is usually used by the Revenue when it communicates to citizens.

By clicking on the link or providing personal information by replying to the supposed tax authorities’ email, the taxpayer may have several data stolen, such as CPF number, bank account number, address, among others.

Scammers try to deceive the taxpayer with some important information, which seems to be true. One of them is that the IR declaration has errors, something that can happen to any taxpayer who declares the Income Tax.

Another false information is that it is necessary to make the correction until this Wednesday (31). In fact, those who make mistakes on the IR have advantages if they manage to correct them by May 31, the last day for submitting returns. The reason is that, when correcting flaws within this period, the taxpayer can change the form of taxation, whether by legal deductions or simplified discount and vice versa, to whichever is more advantageous.

“Through these false messages, gangs specializing in internet crimes can illegally obtain tax, registration and financial information from taxpayers, or install programs on computers that capture and send personal information. These criminal practices have become increasingly sophisticated” , says the Revenue, in a note.

Among the alerts issued by the Revenue is that the body does not send communications by email or text messages requesting the correction of errors in declarations through links. In addition, the agency reinforces that the only way to know if there is any pending in the declaration is through the IR extract, in the e-CAC, which is the Virtual Service Center of the Federal Revenue and through “My Income Tax”.

See Recipe tips for not falling into scams:

• Be wary of emails or messages from an unknown source that request personal information, especially related to the Income Tax return
• Never click on suspicious or unknown links as they may direct you to malicious websites or download harmful programs to your device
• Do not open attached files, as they are usually executable programs that can cause damage to the computer or capture confidential user information
• Always verify the authenticity of communications that appear to be from the IRS. Remember that the institution mainly uses the e-CAC Portal (Virtual Taxpayer Service Center) and the Revenue website itself for communication with the taxpayer

How to know if the IR declaration fell into the fine mesh?

According to the Revenue, when the taxpayer sends the declaration, it undergoes an automatic analysis in the tax systems, where the information sent by the citizen and that of companies and individuals are verified, whether paying sources or service providers who have received payment from the taxpayer. .

These data have to match. Otherwise, the statement will be separated for a deeper analysis, a procedure called fiscal mesh or fine mesh, as it is popularly known. The taxpayer does not receive the refund until it leaves the network.

Information on declaration errors is accessible via e-CAC, in My Income Tax. In “Processing”, it is possible to know what happened to the IR when clicking on “Mesh Pending”. If the mistake in the declaration was made by the taxpayer, it is necessary to send a rectifier. If it was from paying sources, you need to get in touch and ask for the correction for that source.