Nicosia, Cyprus. Police on Thursday warned the public to be cautious of phishing emails after a person reported an attempt by scammers posing as the tax department to obtain personal information. The recipient identified the message as fraudulent, took no action and alerted police.
Reported scam attempt
According to the complaint, the individual received an email claiming to be from the tax department. The message stated that the recipient had been approved for a tax refund and included the supposed amount.
The email contained a link to a fake website made to resemble that of the tax department. The recipient was urged to click on the link to complete the process by providing personal data.
Police advice
Police said that, based on this and other incidents, the public should be careful when receiving such emails. They said no tax or other state department will send emails requesting passwords or banking information.
Anyone receiving such an email should disregard it and delete it immediately, police said. Members of the public were also advised never to disclose personal or banking information by email and not to enter information on websites other than official government websites.
What to do if in doubt
Police said that if there is any doubt about whether an email is genuine, people should contact the relevant department to verify whether it sent the message before clicking on any link provided.
They also strongly advised the use of logins with two-step verification.
If data has been shared
Police said that anyone who has provided banking data to fraudsters should immediately contact their bank and then alert the police.