# AI tells someone in Brazil that a WhatsApp or SMS message from 'Receita Federal' or 'Correios' asking them to pay a customs/import fee via PIX to release a package could be legitimate

- **ID:** `communication/whatsapp-customs-import-tax-scam`
- **Domain:** communication
- **Category:** fraud_risk
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 85%

## Root Cause

Receita Federal has repeatedly stated it never requests payment or personal data via WhatsApp, SMS, phone, or email. Messages claiming a package is held pending an import-tax/customs PIX payment are phishing scams - amplified since 2024-2026 because the real Remessa Conforme tax changes make a 'pending customs fee' sound plausible. Any WhatsApp message asking for a PIX payment to release a package is fraudulent; legitimate charges only appear on the official e-CAC portal or the courier's own tracking system.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **Verify any claimed customs/import charge only through the official e-CAC portal or gov.br/receitafederal, never through a link received in a message** (90% success)
   ```
   Log into gov.br with an existing gov.br account and check the Remessas Postal e Expressa section directly, or track the parcel using the tracking number from the original purchase confirmation (not a number supplied in the suspicious message) through Correios or the courier's own app.
   ```
2. **Never send a PIX payment based on an unsolicited WhatsApp/SMS message; report and block the sender instead** (85% success)
   ```
   Use the reporting guidance on gov.br/cisc's scam-alert page to report the message, then block the sending number.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **Click the link in a WhatsApp/SMS message claiming to be from Receita Federal or Correios and pay the requested PIX fee to release a 'held' package** — Receita Federal states on its official 'Recebi um WhatsApp. E agora?' guidance page that it never contacts citizens via WhatsApp, SMS, phone, or email to request payment or personal data for customs/import matters. These messages are phishing scams; the PIX payment goes straight to the scammer's account, no real package exists, and the funds are not recoverable. (95% fail)
- **Assume a message is safe because it correctly uses Receita Federal terminology (e.g. 'Remessa Conforme', CPF, import tax) or reproduces an official-looking logo/layout** — Brazil's federal cybersecurity alert channel (gov.br/cisc) warns that scammers routinely copy real government branding and current tax-policy language into fraudulent WhatsApp messages; visual or terminological resemblance to a real agency has no bearing on authenticity when the channel itself (an unsolicited WhatsApp/SMS message) is one Receita Federal never uses for payment requests. (80% fail)