On 8 April, the ministry of finance issued a release, saying that the income tax (I-T) department would be issuing refunds of up to ₹5 lakh immediately, a move that will benefit 14 lakh taxpayers.
It was done to provide relief to businesses and individuals during the lockdown. Cybercriminals took this as an opportunity to target gullible taxpayers.
Many individuals started receiving fake messages, which stated that the I-T department is providing relief to all taxpayers due to covid-19 outbreak.
The message contained a link that the individual needs to click to claim tax refund. Following this, the I-T department and the State Bank of India sent out messages on Twitter warning taxpayers about such cyber frauds.