Scams come in all shapes and sizes, depending on what is in the news and the time of year. But one scam type that never seems to go away is fraudsters who pretend to be from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Because most people have some contact with the tax office from time to time, conmen have latched on to this and are targeting people with increasingly sophisticated messages that claim to be from HMRC but are in reality a mechanism to steal either your identity or you money.
Tax refund experts RIFT Tax Refunds have estimated that the average victim of fraud will be hit to the tune of £600, but Which? calculates that the emotional and psychological damage would have a monetary value of £9.3 billion a year. This equates to £2,509 per victim.
Read more: Nearly 3 in 4 Newcastle families have been targeted by scammers
According to RIFT, there are five types of scams from fraudsters pretending to be from HMRC that people should be alert to:
Phishing emails
These usually take the form of emails that claim to be from HMRC and are usually sent out at key times in the tax calendar, such as around Self Assessment deadlines. The email will look very official and might even appear to come from a genuine HMRC address.
It will often say that you have outstanding tax to pay or that you are owed a tax refund. Either way, it will request that you provide your bank details or other private information in order to proceed.
If the email is requesting a tax payment, the aim is to steal the money. If it says a refund is owed, the aim is likely to be to steal private information, usually by requesting a copy of your passport or a utility bill as ‘proof of identity’.
Fake text messages
Much like a phishing email, scammers will try sending a text message that claims to be from HMRC either promising a tax refund or insisting that outstanding tax is owed. In some cases, the message will include the threat of legal action and arrest if action is not taken immediately.
The text will appear to be from HMRC, but it will usually direct you to a realistic but fake website link where you will be asked to provide sensitive private information such as bank details. The criminals will either use this information for themselves, or sell it on.
Fake websites
Texts and emails will often direct you to a fake website. These are difficult to spot because they can look identical to, for example, the HMRC Self Assessment submission site. As such, it will invite you to provide all sorts of sensitive information including personal finance details.
Phone call scams
With texts and emails, victims have time to scrutinise the correspondence they have received to ensure that it’s genuine. That’s why cold calling is the preferred method of scamming for fraudsters.
A phone call catches the victim off guard and the scammers can easily confuse the recipient with jargon and fast-talking. It is easy for panicked victims to give over the requested data without taking the time to question whether the phone call is genuine or a scam.
Identity theft
All of these scams have one of two goals - to steal money or steal sensitive information. When it's the latter, the scam often leads to identity theft because the scammers have all of the information they need to start pretending to be their victims.
This enables the criminal to impersonate their victim online or even out in the real world in order to take out credit cards, buy goods, or even take out loans in their victim’s name.
The best way to avoid falling for an HMRC scam is to know what genuine HMRC correspondence looks like and how the organisation behaves:
- HMRC will never ask for PINs or passwords to be entered into an email or text message, nor will they use them to ask for personal or financial information.
- While HMRC might make telephone contact, they will never try to pressure, panic, or rush people on the phone.
- A genuine HMRC or government website will always start with ‘https://’ and end with ‘. gov.uk ’. It’s best to never click on a link or open any attachments from unexpected emails. Instead, it’s safer to log on the HMRC website independently.
- Upon receiving a questionable message or call, it’s important to report it to HMRC so that they can follow it up and identify those responsible.
What should you do if you think you've been scammed?
- If you've responded to a scam, end all contact straight away and do not engage any further with the called.
- Call your bank directly and cancel any recurring payments – or most people can call a new hotline set up to report scams on 159.
- Report the scam to the police through Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or report anonymously on the Action Fraud website.
- If you need more help, contact Citizens Advice Scams Action via the Citizens Advice website, or call its Scams Action helpline on 0808 250 5050.
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