The police received a new complaint today regarding an online scam involving an email purportedly sent by the Tax Department.

According to the complaint filed with the Nicosia Cybercrime Unit, a citizen received an email today stating that, in order to receive a tax refund from the Tax Department, they would need to verify their personal information via a link included in the message. The link led to a fake website that resembled the Tax Department’s official website.

The complainant realized that this was a scam and notified the police before taking any action.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Nicosia CID is investigating the fraud case.

In light of this new case, the police urge the public to be particularly cautious and to follow the recommendations below:

• No tax or other government agency sends messages requesting passwords or other personal banking information. If you receive such a message, ignore it and delete it immediately.
• Never share personal or banking information via email or through unknown websites.
• Do not enter information on websites that are not the official sites of government agencies. Always verify the authenticity of the sender’s email address and the links included in the message before clicking on any links.
• Get your information only from official government sources. Citizens can verify the identity of individuals who contact them by reaching out through the official channels of the agencies those individuals claim to represent.
• Use two-factor authentication for your online accounts.
• If any banking information was disclosed to the perpetrators during such a scam, the public should IMMEDIATELY notify their bank to prevent unauthorized use of their data and available account balances, and file a report with the police.