Income-Tax Department cautions taxpayers on malicious emails; issues 5-point advisory

The Income-Tax Department has cautioned taxpayers about malicious emails that may cause them to divulge personal details. The I-T Department has asked taxpayers not to respond to malicious emails. The statement says that Income Tax Department never asks PIN, OTP or similar information about credit cards, banks or other financial institutions' account details through email or phone. 
The department has asked taxpayers to check the domain name carefully before proceeding further in any exercise that involves funds. Fraudulent email address will have some incorrect characters. Sometimes these email addresses look similar to the original ones.
If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be authorised by Income Tax Department or directing you to an Income Tax website then take these precautions:
1. Do not reply.
2. Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
3. Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing website then do not enter confidential information like bank account, credit card details.
4. Do not cut and paste the link from the message into your browsers, phishers can make link look like real, but it actually sends you to different websites.
5. Use anti-virus software, anti spyware, and a firewall and keep them updated. Some phishing e-mails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus & Anti-spyware software and firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files.
If you receive any e-mail or find a website you think is pretending to be of Income Tax Department, forward the e-mail or website URL to [email protected]. A copy may also be forwarded to [email protected]
You may forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender. After you forward the e-mail or header information, delete the message.