How to check a message from Inland Revenue or Work and Income

How to check a message from Inland Revenue or Work and Income

"Inland Revenue: you have a tax refund of $342.18 waiting. Confirm your bank details here." Or the opposite: "You have an overdue debt with Work and Income. Pay now to avoid further action." Government agencies make an excellent disguise for fraud: everyone knows them, nobody wants trouble with them, and their real processes are unfamiliar enough that a fake message seems plausible. Inland Revenue (Te Tari Taake) itself warns that scammers pose as it by email, phone and text, using fake refunds, pressure and even threats of arrest.

These campaigns come in waves and repeat the same skeleton as fake "unpaid fine" texts and fake parcel texts (you'll find both in our situation guides): a well-known organisation + money owed (to you or by you) + urgency + a link. Learn to check one, and you can check them all.

The key rule: don't deal with a government agency through a link in a text

Remember two things:

1. Never hand over bank details, passwords or payments through a link in an unexpected text or email that claims to be from Inland Revenue or Work and Income. Their online services are myIR (Inland Revenue) and MyMSD (Work and Income), which YOU open yourself and log in to with your own details; many government services use a RealMe login.
2. A real refund doesn't need you to "confirm your details" through a link. If you have myIR, Inland Revenue always sends refund messages directly to myIR, so log in there to check. And nobody needs your card number to pay money into your account.

Any message pushing you to tap a link to collect, pay or "sort out" something with a government agency is suspicious by default. Not because agencies never send messages, but because a link in a text is not a safe way to deal with them.

What the fake message looks like

• The refund. The most effective hook after the tax year ends on 31 March, when many people are expecting a refund: "you have a refund waiting", with a specific, believable amount. It takes you to a fake site imitating myIR, where you enter your personal and bank details.
• The debt or the threat. "Final notice", "overdue debt", even threats of arrest. It plays on fear instead of hope, but the destination is the same: your details and your card.
• The appointment or the update. Messages asking you to "confirm your appointment" or "update your details" to keep a benefit or NZ Super payment going, with a link. Less urgent-looking, just as fake.
• Lookalike domains. Links containing "ird", "myir", "msd" or "workandincome" plus hyphens and extra words, on domains that aren't the official ones. Inland Revenue's website is ird.govt.nz and Work and Income's is workandincome.govt.nz: like most New Zealand government websites, the site name ends in govt.nz. Check that it really ends there, rather than just containing "govt.nz" somewhere in a longer address.
• A sender that proves nothing. As with every text: the sender can be spoofed, so it neither proves nor disproves anything.

How to check whether there's anything real

The method is the usual one: close the message and go to the official channel yourself. With government agencies it's even clearer, because the official channels are unique and well known:

1. Don't tap the link. Close it.
2. Go to the official website yourself. Type the address into your browser (ird.govt.nz, workandincome.govt.nz). Don't get there through the link in the message or a hurried search.
3. Log in to myIR or MyMSD and check. If there's a refund, a debt, a letter or an appointment, it will be there. If nothing shows up, the message was fake.
4. If you're not comfortable online, call the official phone numbers (looked up by you on the official website, not taken from the message) or ask for help in person.

If something real is waiting, you deal with it inside myIR or MyMSD. Never through a link in a message. It's exactly the same habit we recommend for checking a call or text from your bank.

What to do if you've already tapped or given details

• You only tapped and closed it: almost certainly nothing happened. Block, delete and move on.
• You entered card details: call your bank now, block the card and ask for a new one. Keep an eye on your transactions over the following weeks.
• You entered your myIR or RealMe username and password: change your password as soon as possible on the official website, turn on 2-step verification (Inland Revenue recommends it for myIR) and check for changes you don't recognise, such as a different bank account for refunds. If you can't log in, or you find a change you didn't make, contact the agency straight away on a number from its official website. If you use that password anywhere else, change it there too.
• Report it: forward the text free to 7726, the scam-text reporting service run by the Department of Internal Affairs, and report it to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) with screenshots of the message and the link.
• Report the sender's number in the spam numbers directory.

Quick questions

Does Inland Revenue ever really send texts? Inland Revenue's avoid scams page explains how it does and doesn't contact you, and lists the latest scam texts and emails, so check there rather than guessing. Scammers send emails, calls and texts in its name precisely because people expect to hear from it, and if you have myIR, refund messages always go there. Whatever the channel, treat the message as unverified and check in myIR.

And Work and Income? The same rule: check through MyMSD or by calling Work and Income on a number from its official website, never through a link in an unexpected message.

Are these scams more dangerous at tax time? Yes, because the timing helps the scammer: after the tax year ends on 31 March, lots of people are watching for a refund, and a "refund waiting" message fits right in. In the months after 31 March, be doubly suspicious of any tax message with a link.

Is an email with the official logo more trustworthy than a text? No. A logo can be copied in a minute, and email senders are spoofed too. Apply the same rule: no links from messages, go to myIR or MyMSD yourself.

If you've received one of these messages, report it in the NoCall spam numbers directory: these campaigns change their disguise with the season, and your report helps the next person recognise the pattern in time.