Scammers have wasted no time in trying to cash-in on HMRC’s announcement that 6 million of us are to receive tax rebates.
First the good news. Around 6 million tax payers are to get rebates averaging £400 thanks to errors in the tax system (although a further million are likely to have to pay back as much as £600).
However, scammers have used this news to see if they can get some unsuspecting recipients to click on links in their emails, thinking they’re going to find out more information about their rebate. The links can either be used to “phish” their banking details or to leave viruses and malware on the PC.
Here’s an example of the types of email that are being sent out:
The HMRC has more examples of these types of scam. Here are some of the email addresses that scammers use to pretend to be from HMRC:
- services@hmrc.co.uk
- message@tax.co.uk
- alertsonline@hmrc.co.uk
- info@hmrc.gov.uk
- noreply@hmrc.gov.uk
- securemail@hmrc.co.uk
- rebate@hmrc.gov.uk
- info.hmrc@direct.gov.uk
- email4983913@hmrc.gov.uk
- payment@hmrc.gov.uk
If you do receive such an email, the advice is to notify HMRC and delete the email immediately, without replying to it or clicking on any attachments or links.
I receive this one
From: alertsonline@hmrc.co.uk
Subject: Tax Refund
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 18:10:13 +0100
——————————————————————————–
Tax Refund Notification
Date 06/12/2011 A tax refund of 980.00 GBP .(Still Pending) Due to invalid account record we were unable to credit your account Please submit a verified tax refund request.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
Click the “Refund Me Now” link below and follow the on screen step in order to have us process your request.
Refund Me Now Note: For security reasons, we will record your ip-address, the date and time,Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and indicated.
Best Regards,
HM Revenue & Customs