Francesca Villette
THE SA Revenue Service (Sars) has warned small businesses of scam artists duping them into paying outstanding payments on undeclared taxes.
Sars spokesperson Sandile Memela said there were scam artists pretending to be Sars representatives, who approached business owners demanding that they pay money to clear their debts.
“It seems that they target the small business as part of their modus operandi, suspecting they do not have bookkeepers and tax practitioners, and thus may be more vulnerable.
“A total of 24 cases have been reported to Sars,” said Memela, adding that Gauteng was mostly affected.
Kalyani Pillay, chief executive of the SA Banking Risk Information Centre, said people must deal directly with Sars. “Do not believe the content of unsolicited (phishing) e-mails.”
Sars has created a section on its website where examples of scam documents are listed.
To report or to get more details on phishing, e-mail [email protected] or call 0800 002 870.