Is this text a fishing scam?

98-00

I got a text message claiming to be from from revenue starting my tax refund is being prepared and tells me to visit www.revenire.com with an assigned ITC key.
Is this really from revenue or is it a fishing scam? Revenues website is revenue.ie

dbran

Hi

Revenue will never sent unsolicited text messages to tax payers. It is definately a phishing scam.

dbran

98-00

The link they sent connects to a whole site of pages that look right, so beware.
Thanks for the confirmation

Jaffojuice

Got the same message at 10.46am this morning. It's most definitely a scam so be warned.....if you check out revenire.com, it looks good, but none of the links redirect you anywhere. I reckon my mobile number (and yours apparently) is on a big long scammy list somewhere!

Update:
Revenue are aware of this and have posted the following:

Warning: Text Messaging Scam

The Revenue Commissioners have today (23/07/2014) become aware of fraudulent mobile phone text messages, purporting to come from Revenue, containing a link to a website seeking personal information in connection with a tax refund.

These text messages did not issue from Revenue.

The Revenue Commissioners never send unsolicited text messages.

Anyone who receives an unsolicited text message purporting to be from Revenue and suspects it to be fraudulent or a scam should simply delete it. Anyone who is actually awaiting a tax refund should contact their local Revenue Office to check its status.

Anyone who provided personal information in response to these fraudulent text messages should contact their bank or credit card company immediately.

dbran

Hi

I would not even open the link given, even out of curiosity. The site could run all sorts of scripts on your computer in the background without you knowing it, or could download all kinds of virus that relay your personal details to an unknown remote location.

If you ever get a clearly suspect email from anyone the best policy is to just delete it and don't ever open it. If you do or you go to the URL even just to investigate, you may have already compromised your security.

dbran

RUDOLF289

I use Google Chrome and when you click on the link you get a warning to say that the site has been reported as a phishing website. Access is now blocked, at least by Google.

cheers,
Rudolf289

Sniipe

I've reported http://revenire.com to google also as it seems to be not blocked. People should report the text message number to their mobile phone operator to block that also perhaps?

soomro

Thanks for the above information.
I got the same message yesterday and did not open the message yet and luckily found this thread.
revenire.com will open page revenue and asking validate ICT key.
cheers.

soomro

Did some search on google and found information about this website , which has age of only 2 days:

Website: revenire.com
Title: Revenue - Irish Tax & Customs
Description: The Office of the Revenue Commissioners is the primary state body responsible for the asse

Domain Age: 2 Days
Website Speed: Very Fast

Owner: SoftLayer Domains
Owner Address: 4849 Alpha Road
Owner City: Dallas
Owner Postcode: 75244
Phone Number: 12817144544
Notes:-
This website is 2 Days old
The website expected life (365 days) is relatively short.
The website appears to be less than six months old
Analysis Details:-
Although this website appears to be based in United States there are other countries involved and you should review this information carefully and decide if it is as you expect. This webite is very new , and as such doesn't have an online reputation yet. As with all new businesses , we suggest that you take care and if necessary get in contact with the owners before placing an order of value.

The website has been newly registered with a short life expectancy, which follows the pattern used by many fraudulent and fake selling websites. Please be vigilant and take extra care before providing any payment information.

Domain Name: REVENIRE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1867917086_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.softlayer.com
Registrar URL: [link removed] /> Updated Date: 2014-07-22 11:19:02
Creation Date: 2014-07-22 15:18:54
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2015-07-22 15:18:54
Registrar: Everyones Internet, LLC dba SoftLayer
Registrar IANA ID: 925
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email removed]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.2144420600
Reseller: Lets Host
Reseller: [/email][email removed]
Reseller: 01 653 5032
Reseller: [link removed] /> Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: SoftLayer Domains
Registrant Organization: Softlayer Domain Privacy
Registrant Street: 4849 Alpha Road
Registrant City: Dallas
Registrant State/Province: TX
Registrant Postal Code: 75244
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.2817144544
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [/email][email removed]
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: SoftLayer Domains
Admin Organization: Softlayer Domain Privacy
Admin Street: 4849 Alpha Road
Admin City: Dallas
Admin State/Province: TX
Admin Postal Code: 75244
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.2817144544
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [/email][email removed]
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: SoftLayer Domains
Tech Organization: Softlayer Domain Privacy
Tech Street: 4849 Alpha Road
Tech City: Dallas
Tech State/Province: TX
Tech Postal Code: 75244
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.2817144544
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: [/email][email removed]
Name Server: NS9.DNSIRELAND.COM
Name Server: NS7.DNSIRELAND.IE
Name Server: NS10.DNSIRELAND.COM
DNSSEC: Unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: [link removed] /> >>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2014-07-22 11:19:02 <<<[/email]

Trish canavan

I got a text message from the revenue today stating I was to be given a sum of 1.279 euros. These are scams. Be very aware.

dennyk

100% a scam.

Just general advice: if you ever receive an unsolicited text or email claiming to be from any organisation you actually work with (banks, PayPal, Revenue, etc.), don't click on any links in that message or respond to it, regardless of what it says. Most of these scams are pretty obviously false, but if you are concerned that the message might be legitimate, just go to the organisation's web site yourself using your own bookmark or saved URL and log in there to check on whatever issue the message indicated, or call the organisation's customer service department using a phone number you obtain from their official web site or from your own records (NOT a phone number provided in the aforementioned unsolicited message!) to inquire about the situation. In the extremely unlikely event that the original message was actually legitimate, you should have no difficulty resolving the matter that way, and there's little risk of accidentally giving your private information to a scammer.

You may also want to see if the organisation has a department which handles reports of fraud or abuse and report or forward that message to them if they do; they will want to know if there's a popular scam going around so they can warn their customers about it in advance.