HM Revenue & Customs has warned taxpayers to not respond to any email promising a tax repayment .
Fraudsters have been sending out thousands of such ‘phishing’ emails telling the recipient they are due a tax refund and directing them to an online form to provide bank or credit card details for the “rebate” to be paid into. Anyone providing their details willhave their accounts emptied and credit cards used to their limit. The victim also risks having their personal details sold on to other organised criminal gangs.
HMRC also warned of massive upsurges in phishing emails immediately following the Self Assessment deadlines when many people will be waiting to hear about genuine tax refunds saying: “We only ever contact customers who are due a refund in writing by post. We never use emails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances. We strongly urge anyone receiving such an email to send it to us for investigation before deleting it.”
HMRC has stated that they investigate these attacks and work with law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas. In the last year, scam networks have been shut down in a number of countries, specifically Austria, Mexico, the UK, Korea, the USA, Thailand and Japan. HMRC strongly advises taxpayers to:
• Check the advice published at www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/index.htm to see if the email you have received is listed
• Forward suspicious emails to HMRC at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it from your computer/mail account
• Not click on websites, links contained in suspicious emails or open attachments
• Follow advice from www.getsafeonline.co.uk
If you have reason to believe that you have been the victim of an email scam and have passed on account details, you are advised to report the matter to your bank/card issuer as soon as possible and follow their advice.
