A number of restaurant owners have been receiving letters from an entity called EBN, or European Business Number. The letters ask the VAT-registered restaurateurs and individuals to input their VAT numbers and personal details and send them to an address in Germany.
A number of potential victims contacted this newspaper out of concern that the VAT form might be nothing more than an elaborate scam and it appears, through questions addressed to the Finance Ministry, that those who received the letters were indeed the targets of a complex con.
Recipients of the letter were asked to complete the form and send it back to the given address. Following these instructions would have resulted in the businesses being conned out of a hefty €771.
When asked about the issue, the Finance Ministry said it was aware of the scam and directed us to a notice that was published on the VAT Department website, vat.gov.mt. The notice warns the public not to divulge any information that is requested by means of such letters.
The letters requesting such details go into great detail and it is easy to confuse the scam document for an authentic communication.
The VAT department advises anyone who has received such a letter to ignore them completely. Any VAT-registered individual who signs and returns the form will be entering into an advertising contract that carries an annual fee of over €700.