{"id":90328,"date":"2025-09-26T16:33:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T16:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected"},"modified":"2025-09-26T17:18:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:18:42","slug":"16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","title":{"rendered":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hijackings that has seen taxpayers lose their tax refunds to cyberfraud criminals.<\/p>\n

TimesLIVE’s sister publication, Sowetan reported on Friday the number of hijacked profiles has increased as criminals adapt tactics to breach the tax authority\u2019s platform. This raises concerns about the security of taxpayers\u2019 information with Sars.<\/p>\n

Profile hacking is when criminals impersonate taxpayers, take control of their online accounts, file fraudulent returns and pocket the refunds. The hijacking of a taxpayer\u2019s profile usually happens from targeted identity theft, through the misuse of login credentials, phishing and SIM swaps, among other things.<\/p>\n

The hijacking incidents were most common with personal income tax accounts, followed by VAT accounts.<\/p>\n

The OTO launched an investigation into the profile hijackings a year ago after receiving complaints from several taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Sowetan\u2019s sister publication, Sunday Times, reported in 2024 that a Sandton-based IT firm lost about R20m after its e-filing profile was hijacked.<\/p>\n

The ombud’s office conducted the review after obtaining permission from finance minister Enoch Godongwana. At the time, the office said just more than 305 \u201cparticipants\u201d \u2014 including taxpayers and tax practitioners \u2014 had attended their public engagements.<\/p>\n

Sowetan can reveal the number of allegedly hijacked profiles has risen to close to 16,000. Individual taxpayers have lost up to R100,000 through this fraud.<\/p>\n

The release of the report has been delayed for months. It was initially scheduled to be released for public comment on July 7 but later pushed to August 31.<\/p>\n

At the time, the OTO said the decision followed a formal request from Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter for an extension to allow the revenue service additional time to respond to the preliminary findings and recommendations contained in the draft report.<\/p>\n

The Sowetan understands the delay has been caused by disagreements between tax ombud Yanga Mputa and Kieswetter about the contents of the report.<\/p>\n

After the Sunday Times story was published in 2024, Sars denied any negligence. \u201cWe have found no negligence or liability can be imputed to Sars, meaning Sars can therefore not be held liable for the criminal action reported by the Sunday Times,\u201d Kieswetter said at the time.<\/p>\n

The Sowetan understands Sars has maintained this position.<\/p>\n

The ombud\u2019s senior manager for communications, Pearl Seopela, did not respond to Sowetan\u2019s questions but said: \u201cWe will keep you updated once the report is released.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sars spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko also did not answer specific questions about the number of profiles hijacked. \u201cSars is committed to enable and empower taxpayers to engage the organisation by providing clarity and certainty and making it easy and simple for them to meet their legal obligation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this respect, it works closely with role players in the tax ecosystem, including the OTO. Sars has collaborated extensively in this regard with the OTO. Such co-operation enables the organisation to resolve matters that affect taxpayers, including compromised profiles. This work is ongoing between [the] parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hijackings that has seen taxpayers lose their tax refunds to cyberfraud criminals. TimesLIVE’s sister publication, Sowetan reported on Friday the number of hijacked profiles has increased as criminals adapt tactics to breach the tax authority\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":90327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-90328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\"},\"wordCount\":511,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\",\"name\":\"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected - South Africa","description":"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected","og_description":"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected","datePublished":"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected"},"wordCount":511,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg","keywords":["South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected","name":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-26T16:33:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-26T17:18:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Office of the Tax Ombudsman (OTO) is investigating 16,000 South African Revenue Service (Sars) e-filing profile hija ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1758894436.93066.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/16000-sars-e-filing-profiles-hacked-taxpayers-affected#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"16000 Sars E-Filing Profiles Hacked Taxpayers Affected"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}