Scam Alert: Fraudsters Pretending to be Income Tax Officers Targeting Chartered Accountants

In recent days, many Chartered Accountants (CAs) have reportedly received scam calls from fraudsters pretending to be income tax officers. One such incident was shared by CA Raj Shah from Surat, who received an unknown call from a person who claimed to be a tax officer from the income tax department.

Shah shared that the caller introduced himself as Mr Niteshkumar Sharma. He said that there was a mismatch in the TDS return filed by CA Shah’s company, and they had already emailed the details. The caller further said that he did not get any response to the email from Shah; therefore, he was sending a ZIP file through WhatsApp instead, saying it had more information.

Soon after, a ZIP file was sent to CA Raj Shah’s WhatsApp account from the number 8473027474. The contact had a profile picture of the Income Tax Department’s logo. Before opening the ZIP file, Shah called back at this contact no. to ask for the details of the officer and email. However, he did not answer the call, and the language of the operator was also Bengali, which raised suspicion. Plus, no official email or communication was ever sent from the Income Tax Department, proving the call was a scam.

This incident raises highlights an ongoing scam where these types of fraudsters introduce themselves as income tax officials. These scammers are now targeting CAs. Therefore, it must be noted that the Income Tax Department never sends important notices through WhatsApp or uses ZIP files for such matters.

Whenever you receive such ZIP files or links through WhatsApp or email, do not open them, as the links can hack your system and steal your personal information, causing you major financial loss. It is also important to verify the caller’s identity, and if it seems suspicious, you must report it to the Income Tax Department’s website immediately.