The recipients of the letters are requested to pay an outstanding amount within 30 days without specifying a reference number.
The recipients of the text message are asked to pay an outstanding amount by a certain deadline, stating a reference number. The message contains a link to a phishing page with corresponding payment information.
Please do not respond to these messages, do not comply with the request for payment and do not open the link.
We would like to point out that notifications from the tax authorities are never sent via SMS or Messenger. Furthermore, tax debts are not collected by private debt collection agencies.
The recipients of the fraudulent e-mails are asked to contact the tax investigation department by e-mail at the address of the provider Yahoo.
We would like to point out that the tax office mailboxes always end with @finanzamt.bwl.de.
Information on the subject of phishing can be found on the Police Crime Prevention website at
https://www.polizei-beratung.de/themen-und-tipps/sicher-handeln/onlinebetrug-maschen/phishing/ and
https://www.polizei-beratung.de/aktuelles/detailansicht/identitaetsdiebstahl-im-internet/