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Taxpayers reported almost 75,000 scam emails in six months earlier this year, marking a massive increase in known phishing attempts by tax fraudsters.
HMRC was notified of 74,743 scam messages between April and September: a 70% rise on the equivalent period in 2013.
The Revenue worked with other law enforcement agencies over the same months to close more than 4,000 websites responsible for sending the emails, which promised a tax refund in return for the recipient’s name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details.
Taxpayers reported almost 75,000 scam emails in six months earlier this year, marking a massive increase in known phishing attempts by tax fraudsters.
HMRC was notified of 74,743 scam messages between April and September: a 70% rise on the equivalent period in 2013.
The Revenue worked with other law enforcement agencies over the same months to close more than 4,000 websites responsible for sending the emails, which promised a tax refund in return for the recipient’s name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details.
The tax authority confirms it never uses email to contact taxpayers due a refund, and asks that suspicious messages be forwarded to officials and then deleted from recipients’ inboxes.
