Tax season brings a very specific kind of message: "Your income tax refund of ₹12,450 has been approved. Verify your bank details within 24 hours to receive it." It arrives with official-looking formatting, sometimes a department logo, and just enough plausibility that ignoring it feels riskier than clicking through.
1. Remember how real refunds are actually paid out
A genuine tax refund goes directly into the bank account you already provided when filing your return. There's no additional "verification" step involving a link, an OTP, or updated card details required to receive money you're already owed.
2. Be suspicious of urgency and short deadlines
"Verify within 24 hours or your refund will be cancelled" is a pressure tactic, not how tax administration actually works. Real refund processing follows a documented timeline, not an ultimatum delivered by text.
3. Check the sender and link carefully
Scam messages often use a domain or sender ID that only loosely resembles the real tax department's name. If you're not certain a link truly belongs to the official portal, don't use it — navigate to the tax department's known website yourself instead.
4. Never enter your OTP, PIN, or full card details to "claim" a refund
A real refund never requires you to hand over your OTP, CVV, or net banking password. Any page asking for these details in exchange for releasing a refund is designed to steal them, not pay you anything.
5. Check your refund status directly on the official portal
Log in to the tax department's official e-filing website, typing the address yourself, and check your refund status from your account dashboard. This is the only reliable way to confirm whether a refund message is genuine.
A quick checklist before you respond to a refund message
- Is it asking me to "verify" bank details through a link?
- Does it give me an unusually short deadline to act?
- Does the sender or link look like it truly belongs to the tax department?
- Is it asking for my OTP, PIN, or CVV?
- Have I checked my actual refund status on the official portal?
Any single "yes" among the first four is reason enough to stop and verify independently.
Conclusion
A tax refund is simply money returned to you when you've paid more tax than you owed — a straightforward, well-documented process that never requires you to "unlock" it through a link. Knowing that one fact removes the pressure these messages rely on entirely.
This scam follows the same authority-impersonation pattern as fake government scheme messages — our guide on checking a government scheme message covers a closely related version.
Got a refund message you're unsure about? Paste it into our free checker for a quick first read.
Frequently asked questions
Does the tax department really send refund messages by text or email?
Tax authorities may send notifications, but genuine ones never include a personal link asking for your card details, OTP, or net banking password to "release" your refund.
Why would a refund message ask for my bank account details?
Real tax refunds are deposited directly into the bank account already linked to your filed return, using details you provided during filing, not details you re-enter through a link sent to you afterward.
How can I check my actual refund status safely?
Log in to the tax department's official e-filing portal directly, using an address you type yourself, and check your refund status from your account dashboard rather than through any link in a message.
What should I do if I already entered my details on a fake refund page?
Contact your bank immediately to flag possible fraud, change your net banking password from a separate device, and report the incident to your local cybercrime helpline.
Further reading
Got a refund message you want checked?
Run it through the checker