Beware of fraudulent TABC communications

TABC has learned that one of its license holders recently received an email from someone impersonating a TABC official. We believe this may be part of a malicious email campaign. While TABC is working with cybersecurity authorities to identify and stop the sender, multiple licensees may have already received one of the fraudulent emails.

Emails sent by TABC to license or permit holders generally originate from the “tabc.texas.gov” email domain. Official TABC emails are sent to license or permit holders from that domain — including direct emails from TABC staff, agency newsletters and emails generated by the Alcohol Industry Management System (AIMS).

In less common cases, a license or permit holder may receive an official TABC email from a different domain. An example of this would be responses to open records requests, which are sent from the "govqa.us" domain. If you receive an email claiming to be from TABC and have questions about its legitimacy, contact agency staff using the information below. Never open an attachment or click a link in an email that you think may be fraudulent.

Additional tips for identifying illegitimate emails and websites:

• Look closely at the full web address and email address. Scammers often change one letter or add extra words.
• Be cautious when opening links and attachments. Hover over links to view the real URL destination. Review file names. Do not click on anything that looks suspicious.
• Be suspicious of urgent language, though TABC will use urgent language if necessary to alert you to important deadlines or interruptions to critical services.
• Contact TABC if you ever doubt whether a message originated from the agency.

Report suspected fraudulent TABC emails to TABC by emailing licensing@tabc.texas.gov. You may provide screenshots of a suspected fraudulent email, but do not forward the email to TABC.