HMRC issues urgent new scam warning – ‘reports are increasing’ | Personal Finance | Finance
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has urged Britons to be aware of rising cases of scammers trying to impersonate the the tax system to dupe unsuspecting victims. In a post on X on Sunday, August 2, the UK tax authority wrote: “SCAM ALERT! We’re receiving increased reports of customers receiving scam emails claiming they are due a Self Assessment tax refund for 2024 to 2025.”
HMRC says the emails “tell recipients they need to claim their refund urgently and asks them to provide personal and bank details”. The deparment reminded customers that they will never send you an with an urgent deadline to claim a tax refund. “To check whether you’re due a tax refund, log in securely to your HMRC online account through http://GOV.UK or the HMRC app,” it explained.
It warned people to always stop and think about whether a request is genuine before sharing personal info, or opening any links or attachments.
“If you’re unsure, don’t click on any links and report it to us,” it added. You can find advice on spotting and reporting scams on the GOV.UK website.
There you’ll find a list of genuine HMRC contacts which you can check to decide if a suspicious email, phone call, text or letter could be fraudulent.
If you think you may have been targeted by scammers over the phone, there is a report a suspicious HMRC phone call online service where you can let the department know that you’ve received a call you don’t think is genuine.
You’ll have to provide your email address or sign in to use it.
Suspicious text messages should be forwarded to 60599. HMRC notes that text messages will be charged at your network rate.
The tax authority says it will never send a notification of a tax rebate or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by text message – so if you do, it’s almost certainly a devious scheme.
Suspicious emails can be forwarded to HMRC’s phishing team: phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. HMRC advises deleting the messages after passing them on, reducing the risk of clicking on a dangerous link by mistake.
