“(BMF) You will receive a refund. In order to receive this, you must confirm this once on our website: https://min.lc/26835" - This message is sent from a German number and is currently reaching some users in this or a similar form.

Be careful, fraudulent SMS!
Where should we start? Sequentially:
- The Federal Ministry of Finance will not contact you via SMS if you would actually receive a refund.
Communication regarding tax refunds takes place exclusively via letters or via the FinanzOnline portal. - No official authority will identify itself using an abbreviation within brackets.
- The link in the message is not an official URL of the Federal Ministry of Finance. – There is a fake website behind the link.
Beware, fraudulent website!
Firefox also immediately warns us when we open the link:

The URL of the page is “accessbunde.ddns.net” and was designed in the style of the BMF’s website : Here, information about the alleged credit is provided again: “In order to receive a refund of your personal income tax, you must verify your account so that we can can transfer the full amount of €268.35 to the correct account. For verification it is important that you carry out a one-time verification. You will then receive the amount in your account within 3 working days.” (sic!)

Since it is “important for verification that you carry out a one-time verification” (yes, we repeat the text, but it is just too nice), some banks are also listed. Here you should choose your house bank and log in with your online banking access data. But we don't get that far, because our antivirus program immediately sounds the alarm:

In addition to giving strangers your account details and access to online banking, you are also getting a Trojan horse.
How can you protect yourself?
Official authorities do not send SMS messages to contact citizens. So you can be sure if such a message arrives that it is fake. If in doubt, you should not click on the link, but rather contact the supposedly sending authority directly and ask.
Before entering sensitive data, you should make sure that you are on a trustworthy site.
If you have acted too quickly and entered data, you should contact your bank or credit card company immediately and have the card blocked.
It is also advisable to change your online banking access details as quickly as possible. In such a case, you should also file a report with the police.
Conclusion
This message is fake and does not come from the BMF!
Information about possible tax refunds will not be sent via SMS, but rather either by post or via the FinanzOnline portal.
This might also interest you:
Sham instead of fake: Fake competition is circulating on WhatsApp
Beware of this scam: Fake invoice from the district court in circulation
In the mirror of illusions: The manipulation of media and the human factor behind it
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

