Is this official-looking email real?
The situation
An email claims to be from the Finanzamt, ELSTER, the Beitragsservice, your bank, or even the Ausländerbehörde — refund waiting, account suspended, fee overdue, "verify your details". It looks plausible and you're new enough not to know what's normal.
The way out
Default rule: German authorities do serious business by post, not email.
- Know the pattern: the Finanzamt, Beitragsservice and BZSt do not email payment links, QR codes or "verify your account" forms. Banks never ask for PIN/TAN by any channel. Refunds are never claimed via link.
- Never click — go direct: type the official website yourself or use the app you already have. If something were real, it would be visible in your account there (e.g. ELSTER inbox, online banking messages).
- Check the sender domain carefully — but don't trust it either way; spoofing is easy. The ask (link + urgency + payment/credentials) is the tell, not the design.
- Clicked already? Change that password now (and everywhere it's reused), enable 2FA, and call your bank if any payment data was entered.
- When genuinely unsure, ask the authority via its published contact — or use our Letter Helper for post. Real letters cite your file numbers (Steuernummer, Beitragsnummer, Aktenzeichen) that scammers rarely have.
General information, not legal advice. If your case has deadlines or legal stakes, free migration counselling (Migrationsberatung) exists in every city — use it.