With tax season upon us, South African taxpayers must be aware of the rising threat of fraud. This article explores the latest scams targeting taxpayers and offers essential tips for staying safe during the filing process.
Gone are the days of your obvious 'Prince needs your help' scams. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is warning taxpayers that cybercriminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing phishing scams, making fraudulent emails and messages far more difficult to identify than in the past.
For years, we as consumers were given the same advice to spot scams: look out for poor grammar, spelling mistakes and awkward formatting.
However, the rise of generative AI has changed the landscape, enabling fraudsters to produce polished emails that closely resemble legitimate communications from trusted organisations such as SARS, banks and courier companies.
The warning comes as cybercriminals targeted South Africans during tax season, when millions of taxpayers are submitting returns and are more likely to receive legitimate communication from SARS.
