{"id":867927,"date":"2026-07-29T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=867927"},"modified":"2026-07-29T14:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:19:03","slug":"sars-sends-a-warning-to-anyone-who-filed-a-tax-return-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/867927\/sars-sends-a-warning-to-anyone-who-filed-a-tax-return-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"SARS sends a warning to anyone who filed a tax return this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has noted increasing use of AI among scammers to generate realistic-looking correspondence from the tax service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is making it difficult for many taxpayers to distinguish between official and scam notices, with the revenue service urging extra caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning comes as SARS has identified a new wave of scams hitting the country, circulating via both SMS and email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As South Africa is in the midst of its 2026 tax season, any taxpayers who have filed their tax returns are particularly vulnerable to scammers looking for a target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxpayers doing their manual filing are on the lookout for correspondence from SARS and may be eager to claim any refunds owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the scam follows the same modus operandi as the long list of examples to date, the use of AI is complicating matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest round, the scammers are telling recipients they are owed a refund, usually for a high amount\u2014up to R50,000\u2014and directing them to a fraudulent website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This kind of phishing scam is well-known and has been repeatedly communicated by SARS, but new AI generation technology is making the typical markers of a scam difficult to detect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“SARS is noting with concern that the scammers are now using AI to generate professional-looking email templates that are harder to identify as fraudulent,” the revenue service said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you receive a scam notice, please delete and block [the sender]. If in doubt, email the SARS IT Security team at phishing@sars.gov.za.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The revenue service has added the latest AI-generated correspondence to the long list of scams and phishing examples<\/strong><\/a>, urging taxpayers to visit the page and familiarise themselves with various styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scammers are getting smarter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SARS’ latest warning echoes recent alerts from the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), which said that cybercriminals were catching on to the latest technological developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes using increasingly convincing scams that closely resemble legitimate SARS communications, but also other crimes like profile hijacking, which uses information stolen in these scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAFPS said that scammers rely heavily on urgency, fear and the appearance of legitimacy to pressure victims into acting without verifying the request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking legitimate is key to this, with scammers often making only subtle changes to email addresses or website links that are difficult to detect at first glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These messages may ask taxpayers to verify banking details, confirm personal information or update their eFiling profile,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clicking the embedded links can expose confidential information or compromise devices with malicious software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Official SARS correspondence comes from an **@sars.gov.za** domain\u2014If the address differs, treat it as suspicious and avoid clicking any links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a spoofed SARS address could also be used, so taxpayers should always confirm communication, payments, or refunds through the official SARS eFiling or MobiApp platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAFPS noted that scammers getting hold of taxpayer details through scams could lead to eFiling profile hijacking, highlighting how sensitive this is for anyone caught in the trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hijacking involves fraudsters using stolen personal information to change banking details linked to taxpayer accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows legitimate refunds to be redirected into fraudulent bank accounts opened using stolen identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Victims often only become aware of the fraud after discovering that their refund has already been paid into an unfamiliar account,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This emerging trend highlights the importance of protecting personal information and regularly monitoring eFiling profiles for unauthorised changes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get ahead of scammers, taxpayers have been urged to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Never share eFiling usernames or passwords, and avoid disclosing banking information, PINs or card details in response to emails, SMSs or phone calls.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Handle all tax-related payments through official SARS platforms or verified banking channels. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Avoid clicking on links received via email, SMS or WhatsApp and instead access SARS services directly through the official website. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Use strong passwords, multi-factor authentication and avoiding public Wi-Fi when accessing sensitive financial information can further reduce exposure to cybercrime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Be cautious whenever communications create a sense of urgency or attempt to intimidate you into making immediate decisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Echoing SARS’ warning, the SAFPS said that if there is any uncertainty, taxpayers should contact SARS immediately using verified contact details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SARS has noted increasing use of AI among scammers to generate realistic-looking correspondence from the tax service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":780565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2082451331327860759","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[11489,3246,24659],"class_list":["post-867927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-safps","tag-sars","tag-tax-season-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":867945,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867927\/revisions\/867945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}