Fraudulent emails from ‘HMRC’
HMRC is warning of new fraudulent emails being sent to taxpayers. The emails take advantage of the recent January 31 deadline for submitting self-assessment returns and inform the recipient they are due a tax rebate. The emails contain a click-through link to a replica of the HMRC website. The recipient is then asked to provide their credit card details.
These are not genuine HMRC messages and should be disregarded.
This is yet another ‘phishing’ exercise that uses bogus e-mails and websites to trick taxpayers into supplying confidential or personal information.
The ‘phishing’ emails are being sent from the UK and around the world.
In a recent press release HMRC have stated that ‘…HMRC will only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. If anyone receives an email offering a tax rebate claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it tophishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently.‘
Any of our readers who are unsure as to the authenticity of any email purporting to be from HMRC should avoid clicking on any links until satisfied that the email is legitimate.