HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is warning the taxpayer after reports that fraudsters are making phone calls pretending to be the taxman.
These criminals posing as HMRC agents are telling taxpayers they are due a tax rebate and are asking for bank card details over the phone. Once they’ve acquired your details, they will attempt to take money from your account. Unlucky victims risk their bank accounts being emptied and their personal details sold to other organised criminal gangs.
This news comes amid the recent increase in the number of bogus tax ‘phishing’ emails. It has been reported that HMRC has shut down over 180 websites in the last three months. These websites were responsible for sending the bogus emails.
Chris Hopson, Director of Customer Contact at HMRC, said on the HMRC website:
“We only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. We never use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances. We strongly urge anyone receiving such a phone call not to give any information to the caller, but report it to the police straightaway.
“If customers receive an email claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it to us for investigation before deleting it permanently.”
For more information or advice regarding this issue, visit HMRC website.
