Time and again, scammers attempt to obtain personal information from citizens, for example, by sending fraudulent emails, text messages, or letters purporting to be from the tax authorities. The sender is often falsely identified as ELSTER, the tax office, or the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt). In these messages, recipients are usually asked to open an attached file that is supposedly a tax assessment or an invoice. Details about the individual messages can be found, among other places, on the BZSt website—Warning About Fraud Attempts. You can also find further information on the website ELSTER.

Please note:

• The tax administration generally sends you only notifications, but never the actual tax data or invoices as email attachments.
• Never open attachments unless you are certain they come from a trusted source.
  
• The tax administration will never request information such as your tax ID number, bank account details, credit card numbers, PIN, or the answer to your security question via email.
• Do not click on any embedded links in an email if you have any doubts that the email is from the tax authority.
• General tips for online safety, as well as current warnings, can be found on the website of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).