Overview
- The Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check unit has officially labelled emails offering PAN 2.0 cards as fake.
- Fraudsters impersonate the Income Tax Department using sender IDs like info@smt.plusoasis.com and promise QR-enabled e-PAN downloads.
- The Income Tax Department warns it never requests personal credentials such as bank details or passwords through email.
- No data breaches linked to the scam have been confirmed so far, but experts recommend updating antivirus software and verifying links before clicking.
- Suspicious messages should be forwarded to webmanager@incometax.gov.in or incident@cert-in.org.in for investigation.