Online fraudsters impersonating Internal Revenue Department staff are on the rise, leading to financial losses, according to businessmen.

They initially contacted some businessmen’s Viber numbers claiming to be collecting taxes, and later made phone calls, and asked the businessmen to check whether the information sent via Viber was correct, and then clicked on the link they sent to check it, a businessman said.

“When I clicked on the link they sent and checked it, they asked me to transfer money from my Kpay account for the registration fee. It was only a hundred kyats, so some of them transferred it. In fact, once I clicked on the link they sent, it turned out that it is automatically installed software on my phone and they can view my phone. From there, they could view all my Kpay information on my phone,” a businessman said.

Currently, not only large businesses but also small businesses are experiencing similar online fraud, causing financial losses.

“Now, there are more and more frauds in this way. Many people have been scammed,” said a businessman in Yangon.

“I didn’t receive any messages from Viber, but I get a call from the Internal Revenue Department from Nay Pyi Taw. I asked them their office number and they said they would send it to me, but they didn’t call me back. When I called them back, it kept saying that their phone was busy,” a businessman wrote on social media.

A businessman who was scammed said, “Yesterday, I received a message from Viber with the logo of the Internal Revenue Department. I think it was from Nay Pyi Taw and there was a phone call to check whether my company information was correct or not. I was also preparing my tax clearance so I answered all the questions. I believed him that all the company information he sent me is correct. To check and confirm it, I went to the link he gave and confirmed it. I didn’t know that it was a trap. I can’t log in their line with my iPhone. When I told him about it, he said that I can only log in with phones using Android operating system. So, I logged in with my employee’s phone. I couldn’t log in easily, so I went through the steps. When I was downloading, I was asked to pay the registration fee of 1,000 kyats with Kpay. I didn’t use Kpay or Wave Pay. So, I paid 1,000 kyats with the Kpay account of the employee who gave me the phone. The download was not finished yet, so they said they would continue after lunch. After that they didn’t contact me. I thought he didn’t contact me because he was busy. This morning, the employee lost more than 400,000 kyats in his Kpay account.”

Regarding such incidents, warning notices have been posted at the relevant township tax offices, warning people to be careful of fraud.

The Inland Revenue Department has announced that it has been informed that online financial fraud is taking place using the name and logo of the department.

Taxpayers are advised to be especially careful and if they encounter unusual incidents such as requests to contact their personal information, they can contact the Inland Revenue Department’s information team during office hours.