Scammers definitely have a sense of timing. If the tax return campaign has been over for almost a month, the tax authorities are not done with you. As Planet explained to you this week, it will soon be time for refunds or levies for taxpayers who gave too much or not enough money in 2022. Good or bad surprise, you will know very soon after receiving your tax notice within a few days.
In order to guarantee the smooth running of this operation, the Ministry of the Economy asks taxpayers to verify important information on their personal tax space. In a statement published recently, the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) invites the French to check that “the bank account known to the tax administration is the correct one”. The Ministry of the Economy points out that your taxes are deducted from your income (salary or retirement pension for example), but that the amount remaining to be paid or the reimbursement is made directly between the tax authorities and you. It is therefore necessary to update your contact details, as this guarantees “a faster reimbursement or a simplified payment in the event of an amount to be paid”, concludes the DGFiP.
To check that everything is up to date on your side, you just have to connect to your private space on the tax site and go to the “Update your bank details” category. Attention, go directly to the site and do not click on a link that would be sent to you by message. Indeed, scammers take advantage of the opportunity to impersonate the tax authorities and try to steal your personal data. The scam is currently raging by SMS and it is formidable… Here is everything you need to know to avoid being fooled.
Pay attention to the text messages you receive. As Numerama explains, messages are currently being sent to the phones of many French people, claiming “suspicious activity” on their particular account on the tax site. It is undoubtedly a phishing campaign, the purpose of which is to recover your personal data. Here is what the received message says:
If we are not careful, this site seems larger than life, because the address mentions taxes but also the government. It is also a clone of the real site, with a perfectly copied page: you must enter your tax number and your password to connect. When you identify yourself, you then receive the following message, including spelling errors: “Thank you for your authentication. Access to your account has been restored, you can now connect to your personal space”.
What do you risk if you click on the link and identify yourself?
Your tax number is valuable data and, once it has fallen into the hands of scammers, it can be used in several ways. Numerama explains that access to the tax number “is primarily used for the resale of data, a tax form containing a lot of information”. Criminals can also create fake accounts with your credentials or reuse the password provided to connect to other sites.
If it is already too late and you have clicked on the SMS link, you must change your password quickly, in order to regain control of your account. You must also notify taxes on the contact page of the official website impots.gouv.fr.