The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Wednesday warned taxpayers and corporate organisations to be on the lookout for scams and fraudulent activities during the festive period.
In a statement, Sars said it was aware of several scams which included the issuing of fake Third Party Appointment (AA88) notices to companies and unauthorised use of its logo as well as individuals posing as SARS staff.
Sars said most scams required individuals and corporate taxpayers to make payments, also requesting personal and banking details.
“A scam targeting companies, some companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, has been detected,” Sars said.
“Banks are receiving Third Party Appointment (AA88) Notices to deduct money from the company’s account and pay it into a third party account. Some of these notices involve millions of rands.”
SARS said it would never ask taxpayers to make payments to third party accounts.
The revenue collector said all legitimate notices required payment to be made through a dedicated Sars payment channel and its bank details can be verified via its contact centre or at a branch.
Ssars also said it is aware of individuals posing as revenue service staff by using its logos, branded apparel and bogus offices to defraud members of the public.
“The scam involves notifying people that they have been successfully employed by SARS, and were now required to buy uniforms and identity cards which are SARS-branded and appear authentic,” Sars said.
Sars urged the public not to make any immediate commitments or provide any personal information including banking details, until verification with Sars had been done.
It further urged the public to always ensure that they were dealing with registered tax practitioners only.
– African News Agency (ANA)
