It’s the time in the financial year when HMRC are processing our tax rebates. As you know, reconciling of taxpayers accounts always falls at the end of the tax year. Unfortunately criminals also know and are using the time of year to add legitimacy to their scams.
How the scam works
Fraudulent texts and emails are being sent to taxpayers which claim that they are due a tax refund. The aim is to con people out of their personal and bank details, and subsequently empty their bank accounts. This might be done by directly asking you to supply those details in order to pay you your (fake) tax rebate. Or it may be an instruction to click on a link to a ‘phishing’ website, which is able to steal information from your computer.
We cannot stress this enough…
HMRC never give tax refund information by email, phone or text message. They only contact taxpayers about a tax rebate by post or through your employer and their pay system.
This is backed-up by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP:
“HMRC only informs you about tax refunds through the post or through your pay via your employer. All emails, text messages, or voicemail messages saying you have a tax refund are a scam. Do not click on any links in these messages, and forward them to HMRC’s phishing email address and phone number.
We know that criminals will try and use events like the end of the financial year, the self-assessment deadline, and the issuing of tax refunds to target the public and attempt to get them to reveal their personal data. It is important to be alert to the danger.”
How big is this problem?
The figures for March 2018 are quite alarming. Vigilant taxpayers made 84,549 reports of phishing websites and HMRC asked for over 2,000 of them to be shut down. That’s just one month and it is predicted to continue during the official tax refund months.
What are HMRC doing about these security issues?
HMRC are doing a great job working against a vast number of criminals that are very good at targeting their prey. Here are some examples from HMRC’s official website, to demonstrate the scale of the problem:
In the 2017-18 tax year:
- 771,227 reports of fake SMS or email reported to HMRC
- 14,631 phishing websites reported by HMRC, with the request of them being taken down
On a slightly more technical note, HMRC have managed to achieve a 90% reduction in the criminal usage of real HMRC SMS tags by developing SMS firewalling with industry experts.
What can I do to help eliminate these fraudsters?
Firstly, you need to have the correct information. Getting a tax refund is the positive side of our tax system and many taxpayers know if they are due a rebate. To be absolutely clear, you will get confirmation of this from HMRC, sometime between June and October, in the post. This letter will let you know your adjusted tax calculation, including how much tax rebate you are owed from HMRC – something to look forward to.
Secondly, you can help HMRC in their fight to keep you safe from scammers by getting involved. 1.1 million people went straight to HMRC’s security pages on GOV.UK in the last tax year, which shows that people know where to find the correct information. Here are some of the ways you can help:
- Take responsibility for your own information and think before you click. If you’re not sure, do not give out any information or reply to any texts, and do not click on any dubious email links or attachments. NO official financial organisation will randomly ask you for private security information.
- Don’t just delete the message or email – report it to HMRC or Action Fraud. It only takes a minute of your time and helps them amass evidence against criminals that can eventually shut them down.
Forward emails to: [email protected]
Report texts to: 60599
Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040 or their online fraud reporting tool. (Action Fraud do not just deal exclusively with HMRC scams.)
It’s really up to all of us to protect ourselves and help the authorities shut down these fraudsters. You can double check how to recognise authentic HMRC communications and on reporting anything suspicious at GOV.UK.
It just makes good sense to approach anything financial with caution. If you are not sure of a phone call, text or email then the only action you should take is to report it. You cannot miss out on your tax refund by doing this because none of these ways of communicating are used by HMRC for confirming tax rebates.
