ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has requested Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the fraudulent emails designed to defraud the taxpayers and to expose the culprits behind this nefarious activity.

In the meanwhile, the public and the taxpayers are advised to beware of such emails designed to defraud them and refrain from sharing any information via the links provided in these emails. It has been reported to FBR that some hackers are using a fake webpage of FBR for nefarious purposes. The taxpayers receive an email about their tax refund from fake email addresses eg rreid@voorhees.edu which appear to be originating from FBR but in fact are not. The email informs the taxpayers to collect their tax refund by clicking on the designated link to a fake website of FBR which has links to banks. FBR’s official website is http://www.fbr.gov.pk but the click leads to fake web address http://www.thefordbarn.com/media/FBR/refundportal.htm asking for their bank account number and password. If the users provide the information, their identity is compromised and their bank accounts are then hacked.

FBR categorically denies any association with these emails and advise taxpayer’s against clicking or opening any links shared in these fraudulent emails. FBR has taken exception to fake and fraudulent emails targeting taxpayers with fake information about their refund due against their filed return.

These phishing emails are designed to obtain taxpayers' banking information in lieu of facilitating payment of their tax refund. FBR has further advised the taxpayers against disclosing any information especially related to their bank accounts via these links.