| HMRC have this week warned people filing Self Assessment tax returns to be wary of copycat websites and phishing scams. In the last year, they have received over 500,000 complaints from the public about scam calls, texts and emails offering bogus tax rebates. |
| They are urging the public to be aware that criminals may take advantage of Self Assessment deadlines to panic consumers so that they will share their personal and financial details or even make payments. There have also been reports from the North of England about scam calls saying that you have received a tax rebate of around £80 and asking you to provide your bank details in order to secure the refund. Just last week, HMRC warned about a similar scam text saying “due to the current COVID-19 pandemic you have a pending tax rebate”. HMRC never send notifications of a tax rebate or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email or text. What to DoHMRC advise that you should be suspicious if you receive an unexpected phone call, text or email purportedly from them asking for money or offering financial help. You should not click on links, provide any details or make any payments to a cold caller;If you are unsure whether a message from HMRC is genuine, check their website before clicking on any links or providing any details. Links in any genuine letters or emails from them will lead to the ‘www.gov.uk’ website. If a link includes the word ‘gov’ but ends in .co.uk it is likely to be fake;Forward details of suspicious emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, forward suspicious text messages to 60599 or report suspicious phone calls on their website. HMRC regularly update their list of genuine communications to help you avoid scams. Find out more about avoiding HMRC scams and avoiding council tax scams on our website. Report similar scams to Advice Direct Scotland and if you have been the victim of fraud, report this to Police Scotland on 101. You can also forward scam emails to the National Cyber Security Centre. |
