Register to get free articles
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
HMRC has warned that tax credits customers should be “alert” to potential scams as the authority responds to more than one million referrals of suspicious contact in the last year.
In the 12 months to 30 April 2021, HMRC responded to more than 1,154,300 referrals of suspicious contact from the public. More than 576,960 of these offered bogus tax rebates.
In the same period, HMRC has worked with telecoms companies and Ofcom to remove more than 3,000 “malicious” telephone numbers, and with internet service providers to take down over 15,700 malicious web pages.
HMRC responded to 443,033 reports of phone scams in total, up 135% on the previous year. The authority said its cyber security operations identifies and closes down scams every day.
In addition, the department has “pioneered” the use in government of technical controls to stop its helpline numbers being spoofed, so that fraudsters can no longer make it appear that they are calling from those HMRC numbers.
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 yourself straight away. Search GOV.UK for our ‘scams checklist’ and to find out ‘how to report tax scams’.
