Is "income tax refund sms asking for bank account details" a scam?

Question

Is "income tax refund sms asking for bank account details" a scam? How do I know, and what should I do?

Accepted Answer

Yes — this is a known, dangerous scam. SMS or email claiming to be from the Income Tax Department says you have a pending refund of ₹15,000-₹40,000 and includes a link to "claim" it. The link goes to a fake e-filing page that captures your PAN, bank account, IFSC, and net-banking password. Red flags: Income Tax Department never sends refund links over SMS. Refunds are credited directly to your registered bank account • URL is not incometax.gov.in but something like incometax-refund.in or itrefund-cbdt.com • Refund amount is suspiciously round (₹15,000, ₹30,750) and consistent across many victims • Asks for net-banking password or full debit card details — IT Department never needs these. What to do: Do not click. Delete the SMS • If you want to check refund status, log in directly at incometax.gov.in or your e-filing account • Real refund updates appear in the 'Worklist' and 'Refund Status' sections after login — not in SMS • If you entered net-banking credentials on a fake page, change your password immediately, alert your bank, and consider freezing your account temporarily • Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

Is “income tax refund sms asking for bank account details” a scam?

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