HMRC have just made an announcement warning tax payers not to become a victim of fraudulent scam emails. The emails commonly start with a sentence such as ‘we have reviewed your tax return according to our calculations of your last years accounts a tax refund of XXXX is due.’
We have reported before about the type of emails being sent which ask for personal information such as bank information or credit card details. If you provide your information you are risking your personal information being used by criminals.
A link is often placed in the scam emails which if clicked enters you into a website which intentionally tries to deceive you into thinking it is an official government site. HMRC are aware of the problem and have closed down 522 illegal websites during 2012. The websites were found from around the world from countries including Russia and the USA.
It is important to know that HMRC never sends emails about a tax rebate that you may be due. HMRC P800 forms do not ask for credit or debit card details.
Gareth Lloyd, Head of Digital Security for HMRC said:
“HMRC does not email customers about tax refunds – we only ever contact customers who are genuinely due tax back in writing, by post.
“If anyone receives an email offering a tax rebate and claiming to be from HMRC, please send it to [email protected] before deleting it permanently. HMRC does everything it can to ensure customers are safe online and we are working closely with other law enforcement agencies to target the criminals behind this serious crime.”
If you have received a suspicious email you can send it to [email protected] and it is suggested you then delete the email.
