Tax email scam. And how you need to be vigilant.
A friendly 'heads up' to all and sundry. HMRC have informed all tax agencies and accountants that many individuals are being targeted by spam emails that purport to be the Tax Office informing these individuals that they have been awarded a rebate and that they simply need to email back their bank details in order to receive it.
DO NOT fall for this. HMRC will never ask for an individuals bank details.
What does a tax email scam look like?
Well, How long have you got? Or should we say - how long is a piece of string? The straight Reallyanswer, of course, is that there are a myriad of strange and often genuinely appealing tax email scams doing the rounds, and the sad fact is that they are constantly evolving.
We think you would be better prepared by having more of an 'overview' as to the general identifiable traits of a tax email scam. We have noticed that in our experience they tend to come in one of two main types. A different approach for both but each with the same aim.
They will generally arrive in your inbox carrying either..
- Really great news.
- A really serious warning or a threat.
Really great news.
So the first type will simply be something that makes you think that Christmas has arrived early. This type of tax email scam is by far the most prevalent. It will be in the form of a government body informing you that you have been awarded a tax rebate of a certain amount of money and that they have been struggling to pay it to you as they do not have your up to date details, and then, yes you guessed it, they need you to click the link or reply to the email with all of your personal information in order to process the payment. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS, and also watch out for the subtle trick up the fraudsters sleeve. many of them are very aware that a lot of folk are far too savvy to simply email their details to a random request. BUT. You would be astonished as to how common it is for people to click the link anyway, simply to have a good look at what would be demanded of them. And that is where they will get you. Malware virus can and does enter your computer as soon as you click and that is as good as handing over the detail voluntarily. Remember the golden rule. HMRC WILL NEVER SEND A TAX EMAIL INFORMING YOU OF A TAX REBATE. They will always do so by post.
Simply delete the email and move on with your life.
A really serious warning or threat.
This type of tax email scam is simply the same as above but using a different human emotion - fear. Again you will receive an unsolicited email and again it will appear to come from a government body although in some cases it may well be from what appears to be a private organisation that is representing a government body. But this will be informing you that you are in debt to HMRC, or that you have been awarded penalty fines and that you need to reply with your details or of course click the link and, well, you get the picture, right?
Once again remember the golden rule. HMRC WILL NEVER SEND A TAX EMAIL INFORMING YOU OF A TAX PENALTY OR FINE. They will always do so by post.
Delete. Move on. Get on with your life.
Hope this helps. You're welcome!
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