PAN-Aadhaar Link Deadline Scam by email

How it looks by email, the red flags and what to do.

Email scams copy the logos, colours and wording of real companies, and the sender address often differs from the real one by one letter. PAN-Aadhaar Link Deadline Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A text warns that PAN will become inoperative unless you link it to Aadhaar today. The link collects your details and takes a fake penalty fee.

What pan-aadhaar link deadline scam looks like by email

• A generic greeting instead of your name.
• A login page that opens from the email and asks for your password and OTP.
• A sender address that is almost, but not exactly, the real domain.

The scammer picks a topic that has been in the news and sends the same message to a long list of numbers. The text uses terms like inoperative, penalty and linkage. It does not need to be accurate. It only needs to sound like something the reader half remembers from a notice or from a news report.

Red flags to check on the email

• It says today is the last day with no source.
• It demands a penalty through a link in the message.
• It asks for card details to link two documents.
• It uses a shortened link or a lookalike domain.
• The sender address has an extra word or letter.
• The tone is urgent and the grammar is slightly off.

What to do

1. Do not use the link and do not pay anything.
2. Check your PAN-Aadhaar status only on the official income tax e-filing website typed by hand.
3. If a fee is genuinely due, pay it only through the official portal.
4. Check the full sender address, not just the display name.
5. Report it as phishing in your email app and delete it.
6. If you typed a password on the page, change it at once and turn on two-step verification.

Use Report phishing in your email app. If money or accounts are affected, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 and report the payment with its time and reference.
2. Ask your bank, via the number printed on your card, to block the card you typed.
3. File a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.
4. Monitor your credit report and alerts for new accounts using your PAN.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's scam check reads the text you paste and explains the pressure it finds: a deadline, a fine and a request for card details. The link check helps you see shortened or lookalike addresses before you open them. It does not know your actual PAN-Aadhaar status or decide what you owe. For that, use the official portal. Safeavio cannot refund a payment already made.

Full guide: PAN-Aadhaar Link Deadline Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: SMS, WhatsApp.

Questions