Taxpayers have been urged by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) to be vigilant and on alert for potential scams.
The warning was issued after the FRCS received a report by a person stating that she received WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers claiming that her mobile number has won a lottery and that to claim the money, she needed to pay a tax.
It said to induce the person to pay the tax, the callers sent her a modified copy of an old FRCS Public Notice which had glaring signs of not being genuine such as a non-FRCS stamp.
FRCS chief executive officer Mark Dixon said the FRCS does not use Public Notice templates to correspond with individuals.
The victim was asked to make the tax payment through money transfer companies.
“As with most scams, the fraudsters in this scam also used psychology-based principles to increase the effectiveness of their attacks and convince the victims to pay with the FRCS Public Notice template. They used this technique to add credibility to their scheme,” Mr Dixon said.
“Scammers might target you with distinct types of FRCS scams but being aware of frauds and how to address them can help you keep your information and finances secure.”
He urged people not to fall victim to such fraudulent schemes and lose their money to the perpetrators of such frauds.
Mr Dixon said FRCS does not request payments through money transfer companies or through Facebook and messaging apps, adding that all payments to the Service were made at the cashier counters or through our official bank accounts.
