‘We will leave no stone unturned’ — Sars warns tax fraudsters targeting eFiling profiles

SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter has sent a strong message to fraudsters who swindle taxpayers out of their money through fraudulent refund scams. 

Sars issued a warning to taxpayers about incidents of unauthorised changes that were made to taxpayers’s eFiling profiles to defraud Sars and affected taxpayers. 

Sars said in a statement these fraudulent activities are carried out by individuals who gain access to eFiling profiles to change taxpayers’ banking details and divert funds. It said fraudsters also submit fraudulent tax returns to generate refunds.

“Let me leave no-one in doubt about Sars’ capacity and capability to deal a massive blow to those hell-bent on these criminal activities. Working with other law enforcement agencies, Sars will leave no stone unturned to hunt and find these criminals. This is no idle threat, be warned,” said Kieswetter. 

Sars has in the past week introduced several changes to its system to prevent criminals from accessing taxpayers’ personal information.

It called on tax practitioners to safeguard the private personal and banking details of their clients and ensure no third party has access to this information, especially when they change jobs. 

The public is also urged to be aware of scams and report any suspicious activities.