It's that time of year again, yes it's the end of the tax year and the new tax year has now started. It's also the time that fake phishing emails claiming to be from HMRC will be doing the rounds. So, is that email claiming you've been given a massive tax refund for real?
Emails from HMRC will never:
- Notify you of a tax rebate
- Offer you a repayment
- Ask you to disclose personal information such as your full address, postcode, Unique Taxpayer Reference or details of your bank account
- Give a non HMRC personal email address to send a response to
- Ask for financial information such as specific figures or tax computations, unless you’ve given us prior consent and you have formally accepted the risks
- Have attachments, unless you have given prior consent and you have formally accepted the risks
- Provide a link to a secure log-in page or a form asking for information - instead we will ask you to log on to your online account to check for information.
What you can do about it:
If you receive an email you believe to be offering a tax refund you can send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it permanently.
HMRC advises customers who receive such an email to check the advice and view where examples of these fake emails.
If you have answered an email and given your personal information:
People should not click on websites or links contained in suspicious emails or open attachments. Anyone who has answered one of these emails should forward the email and disclosed details to security.custcon@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
You can also read the University of Bath phishing information, which gives further advice.
