How to spot fake emails and texts
Fake emails and texts may look like they are sent by one of the seven agencies of the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (Skatteforvaltningen). We recommend that you only click on links in emails and texts when you are sure that the sender is legitimate. We do not have examples of fake emails or texts related to all seven agencies to show you. But we do have some examples of previous fake emails from "The Tax Agency" (Skattestyrelsen) and old fake emails texts from "SKAT" as we were called years ago.
You should also be on guard when you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Customs and Tax Administration. Read more below.
Check the purpose of the email
Read carefully what the purpose of the email is. We will only write to you to give you information and options.
We would never ask for:
- Your personal data
- Your bank account or payment card details
- An amount
If in doubt, never click on a link in an email. Delete suspicious looking emails.
Be careful with your card details
Do not state your payment card details in an email.
If you entered your card details by mistake we recommend that you contact your bank. You should also check that money is not withdrawn from your account without your approval.
The Danish Tax Agency automatically refunds any overpaid tax to your NemKonto and you do not have to state your payment card details to get the refund.
Check sender of email
Most email programs will show you the sender email address when you click on the name of the sender. Here you will see the full email address of the sender of the email.
However, you can never be completely sure as the sender email address can easily be faked and therefore look like an official address from the Danish Customs and Tax Administration.
You should never click on links if you are unsure whether an email is from us. Instead, you should open up a browser, go to www.skat.dk and continue from there. You can write us a message and see your tax information on our website.
We have listed our various websites below.
Check that links are secure
To ensure that a link is secure, mouse over the link to see which website it links to. Only click the link if it links to one of the following website or email addresses:
| Website address/domain | Agency |
|---|---|
|
www.skat.dk |
Guides and self-service solutions for all agencies |
|
www.sktst.dk |
Danish Tax Agency |
|
www.toldst.dk |
Danish Customs Agency |
|
www.vurdst.dk |
Danish Property Assessment Agency |
|
www.gaeldst.dk |
Danish Debt Collection Agency |
|
www.motorst.dk |
Danish Motor Vehicle Agency |
|
www.ufst.dk |
IT and Development Agency |
|
www.adst.dk |
Administration and Services Agency |
You should never click on links if you are unsure whether an email is from us. Instead, you should open up a browser, go to www.skat.dk/english and continue from there. You can write us a message and see your tax information on our website.
Here are two examples of emails sent by the former SKAT showing what our real website addresses look like when you mouse over the links.
Example 1: Email from the Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen)
MANGLER BILLEDE FRA DAP
Example 2: Email from the Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen)
Hold musen hen over linket, så kommer der en boks frem, hvor du kan se, om der står skat.dk i adressen.
Most fake emails and texts try to make you click a link to a website where the sender wants you to enter various information. The website may look very much like skat.dk but if you check the address you will see that it is not skat.dk.
If you are uncertain about the legitimacy of links you receive by email or texts, you should nok click on them. Instead, you should open up a browser, go to www.skat.dk/english and continue from there. You can write us a message and see your tax information on our website.
How do you know that the website is fake?
- The wording is not quite correct grammatically.
- It contains several spelling errors or typing mistakes such as space between letters in words
- The wrong sender in the address field.
We encourage you to send us a screenshot of any fake emails or text messages you receive. That way, you will help us break the cycle.
You can send screenshots via our social media pages on Facebook or Twitter, or via E-tax (TastSelv).
There are several examples that individuals and businesses were exposed to fraud where the sender calls himself "SKTST/SKattekontoen" or "SKAT Skattekonto" and sends you a MobilePay request.
We do NOT send payment requests by MobilePay. If you receive such a request, you should not accept it but report it to the police.
Example of a fake MobilePay payment request "SKTST/Skattekontoen", September 2022:
Read more in Danish about Safety on the Internet (borger.dk)
Read more in Danish about Safe use of phones and smart phones (borger.dk)