Urgent warning: Deceptively real fraudulent letters on the way

WAZ Urgent warning: Deceptively real fraudulent letters on the way Nadine Gewehr • 13 hours • 1 minute read Fraudulent letters are circulating in the name of the Federal Central Tax Office. When she opened the letter from the supposed Federal Central Tax Office and read the payment request, the Oberhausen businesswoman's brow must have furrowed. She allegedly failed to comply with her disclosure obligation under the German Commercial Code and is now paying more than 200 euros. The letter looked deceptively real: the correct address and sender, file and cash register numbers, and a barcode actually used in official mail were all present, as well as an image of the federal coat of arms. The Oberhausen woman still didn't pay. Luckily, that's because the letter is a blatant forgery. The Oberhausen woman first contacted her tax office, but also the (real) Federal Central Tax Office. And she learned: Extreme caution is advised at the moment. The Bonn-based tax office is already aware of the scam. The authority is also currently issuing a warning on its website. "Luckily, I didn't fall for it," says the Oberhausen resident, who also wants to warn others about the scam. Fraud attempts occur again and again, the Federal Central Tax Office also warns. The criminals send text messages, emails, or letters in the name of the authority. "We expressly warn against responding to these fraud attempts and opening links or file attachments in suspicious emails." Contact details for the real tax authority can be found online at bzst.de.