Government & Tax scams
Government impersonation uses fear: refunds you are owed, penalties you must pay today, or legal action.
Paste the sender's email address, the link, or the website from the message.
Know the pattern
The most common government & tax scams
A tax refund is waiting
A message says you are owed a refund and asks for bank or card details so it can be paid.
Pay now or face legal action
You are told you owe money or face arrest unless you pay immediately, often by gift card, wire transfer or crypto.
Unpaid toll, fine or vehicle tax
A text says you owe a small toll, fine or tax and must pay through a link today.
11 brands monitored daily
Check a specific company
IRS
irs.gov
HMRC
gov.uk
DVLA
gov.uk
Social Security Administration
ssa.gov
USCIS
uscis.gov
Canada Revenue Agency
canada.ca
Australian Taxation Office
ato.gov.au
myGov
my.gov.au
NHS
nhs.uk
E-ZPass
e-zpassiag.com, e-zpassny.com
SunPass
sunpass.com
Help stop it
Where to report a scam
United Kingdom
- Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk
- Forward scam texts to 7726
United States
- Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
- Forward phishing emails to reportphishing@apwg.org
- Forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM)
Canada
- Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
- Forward scam texts to 7726
Australia
- Report to Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au
- Report cybercrime through ReportCyber at cyber.gov.au
India
- Report at cybercrime.gov.in or call the 1930 helpline
Germany
- Forward phishing emails to the Phishing-Radar at phishing@verbraucherzentrale.nrw
Switzerland
- Report phishing websites at antiphishing.ch
Anywhere
- Report phishing websites to Google Safe Browsing at safebrowsing.google.com
- Tell the company through its official website or app
Other industries