Falling into an expensive trap

40,000 transferred to the “tax office” before Christmas

Cyber criminals brazenly exploit the official website of the tax office.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

Before the turn of the year, fake messages from the tax office about a deadline for the online tax ID are in high season. A man from Burgenland fell into the trap in good faith. By the time the man became suspicious, he had already transferred two large sums of money to the cyber criminals.

"Your online financial ID expires on 31.12.2025. Your tax return cannot be submitted without an extension." SMS messages warning users that their proof of identity was supposedly no longer valid were in circulation particularly frequently before Christmas.

No suspicion aroused
Anyone who clicked on the link sent and followed the instructions passed on highly sensitive personal data to fraudsters. A victim from southern Burgenland should have been suspicious of the attached Internet address "FinanzenOnline-AT.com/web" alone. But the almost 40-year-old did not have the slightest suspicion.

Login page deceptively genuine
The person concerned was redirected to a fake login page, which at first glance had a number of typical features of the official FinanzOnline page. The deceived man acted in good faith and followed the instructions of the hardened cyber criminals.

Alleged advance payments for the tax authorities
Within a few days in December, the man from Burgenland ordered two transfers of 20,000 euros each via his bank - supposed advance payments for the tax authorities. He only became suspicious when another money transaction was requested.

Just in time, the fraud victim stopped the third transfer and filed a complaint. Too late, because 40,000 euros were already gone.