Tax Credits recipients are being warned to be on their guard against scammers trying to steal their personal information or money.
HMRC has issued the alert as around 2.1 million Tax Credits customers get ready to renew their annual claims before July 31, warning of criminals who mimic Government messages to make them appear authentic. In the 12 months to last month, nearly 277,000 people contacted HMRC about suspicious contact received from the public in the form of phone calls, text messages and emails. Two examples of calls they have taken are:
- Phone calls threatening arrest if people don’t immediately pay tax owed. Sometimes the message claims that the victim’s National Insurance number has been used fraudulently. to try and dupe individuals – often trying to rush them to make decisions. HMRC will not ring anyone out of the blue threatening arrest – only criminals do that.
- Emails or texts offering tax rebates, COVID-19 grants or claiming that a direct debit payment has failed and asking for the victim's bank details.
Read more: Ofgem energy rebate scam warning as hundreds of Brits targeted with fake emails
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We’re urging all of our customers to be really careful if they are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or bank details. There are a lot of scams out there where fraudsters are calling, texting or emailing customers claiming to be from HMRC. If you have any doubts, we suggest you don’t reply directly, and contact us straight away. Search GOV.UK for our scams checklist and to find out how to report tax scams.”
HMRC does not charge tax credits customers to renew their annual claims and is also urging them to be alert to misleading websites or adverts designed to make them pay for Government services that should be free, often charging for a connection to HMRC phone helplines.
Consumer group Which? has issued advice in the wake of fraudsters contacting customers and claiming to be from HMRC. The tax office has said it will never ask for your bank account details, personal information or send you notifications by email or text for:
- tax rebates
- refunds
- personal or payment information
If you do receive such an email purporting to be from HMRC or an email promising a tax rebate, don’t respond, don’t click on any website links within the email and don’t disclose any personal or payment information. Instead, contact HMRC directly to check whether the email is genuine.
HMRC has told Which? it does call people about outstanding tax bills, and sometimes uses automated messages, but it will always include your taxpayer reference number. It says it will never send notifications of a tax rebate or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email or text message. You can forward suspicious text messages to 60599. Text messages will be charged at your network rate.
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HMRC has issued the following three-point plan to stop scammers in their tracks:
1. Stop: Take a moment to think before parting with your money or information. If a phone call, text or email is unexpected, don’t give out private information or reply, and don’t download attachments or click on links before checking on GOV.UK that the contact is genuine. Do not trust caller ID on phones. Numbers can be spoofed.
2. Challenge: It’s OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests - only criminals will try to rush or panic you. Search ‘scams’ on GOV.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact and how to avoid and report scams.
3. Protect: Forward suspicious texts claiming to be from HMRC to 60599 and emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Report tax scam phone calls on GOV.UK. Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam and report it to Action Fraud.
