New Delhi, Jan. 15: The government has warned taxpayers of fake refund emails doing the rounds and advised them against disclosing information such as PAN card numbers and credit card details in response to such messages.

The scam emails tell recipients they are eligible for a tax refund and then seek identity details such as bank account or credit card numbers.

Those who give these details to the scamsters risk their bank accounts being emptied and credit card limits wiped out. The victim also faces the danger of having personal details sold to other cyber gangs.

The emails originate from websites that operate for 20 minutes before changing their domain name.

“A number of taxpayers have received emails with subjects like ‘tax refund’ or ‘seeking refunds’ posing to be from the income-tax department. We contact customers who are due a refund in writing by post. I would strongly encourage anyone receiving such an email not to open it and to delete it from their computer,” said a senior official.

“The income-tax department does not send emails regarding refunds and does not seek any taxpayer information like user name, password, details of bank accounts and ATM and credit cards,” the official added.

The department has also asked taxpayers to avoid replying to email addresses like “lhxbkw”.