With the Self Assessment tax deadline behind us, HMRC is now warning people to be wary of bogus tax refund offers.
The concern is taxpayers who completed their tax return might now be taken in by an email, phone call or text message offering a tax rebate. These phishing scams are designed to use personal details for selling on to criminals, or to access people’s bank accounts.
HMRC responded to 207,800 referrals from the public of suspicious contact in the past year to January – up 14% from the 181,873 reported for the previous 12 months. More than 79,000 of those referrals offered bogus tax rebates.
HMRC stressed it will not email, text or phone a customer to tell them that they are due a refund or ask them to request a refund. Customers receive repayments into their chosen bank account, and can see any transactions in their online HMRC account and in the HMRC app.
In the last year to January HMRC also reported 26,443 malicious web pages to internet service providers to be taken down. This is a 29% increase from the 20,385 referred by HMRC for removal the previous year. These sites aim to deceive taxpayers and steal their personal information or money.
Taxpayers can help fight phishing scams by reporting any suspicious communications to HMRC:
- Forward emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk.
- Report tax scam phone calls to HMRC on GOV.UK.
- Forward suspicious texts claiming to be from HMRC to 60599.
