Scam E-Mails

We have recently been asked to look at 5 or 6 scam e-mails purporting to be from HMRC so the below message from Action Fraud is a good reminder in the month when lots of people will be settling their Self Assessment Tax bills.

HM Revenue and Customs Alert What you need to know Action Fraud has experienced an increase in the reporting of malicious calls, voicemails, text messages or e-mails to members of the public purporting to be from HMRC. The fraudsters either state that as a result of their non-payment of tax, the victim is liable to prosecution or other legal proceedings such as repossession of belongings to settle the balance but can avoid this by arranging for payment to be made immediately by method such as bank transfer, bitcoin or even by iTunes gift cards. If the victim is hesitant or refuses to comply, the suspect makes a threat such as immediate arrest, bailiffs or in cases where the victim appears to be of overseas origin; deportation. Similarly people are receiving texts and e-mails promising tax refunds. It is highly unlikely that HMRC will call a taxpayer in this way and even less so to send texts or e-mails. E-Mails often contain characters such as # which are out of context. What you need to do Do NOT give any details but state that you will establish the facts using trusted methods such as a known e-mail address or phone number or a website like Gov.uk. HMRC does use collection agents and bailiffs but these genuine companies will not use threats such as the above and you can always check them out via a web search.