Member of the public are reminded to be wary of phishing attempts leveraging on the Inland Revenue Board's (IRB) current exercise of refunding overpaid taxes.

In a statement today, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), gave a brief overview of the modus operandi of this phishing attempt.

It said, a person would receive a spam email purportedly from the IRB, that he or she is entitled to a refund of RM700. They would then be asked to click on the logo of a local bank provided on a fake IRB website to proceed further.

If this instruction is followed, they would be scammed into revealing personal financial information.

The MCMC recommends that the public take preventive measures like using web browsers that are up-to-date with built-in-phishing filters and to not trust emails proclaiming cash wins or refunds that request internet banking information.

The public are also advised to not respond to such emails and contact their banks when in doubt.

- Bernama