Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reported on a huge increase in scam attempts. They were astonished when they started receiving more than 170,000 unique reports in just one year, through July 31, 2022. Of those, over 47,000 were scams involving counterfeit or fraudulent tax refunds. Scammers employ ever-evolving tactics to perpetrate their schemes. The new scams even inject a sense of urgency into their messages to further fool would-be victims into providing personal information.
The increase in these scams is a reminder that the fight continues between HMRC and fraudsters looking to trick innocent taxpayers. Scammers always jump on an opportunity during a critical time. They especially go after people at times close to self-assessment tax return deadlines, exploiting the fear that people have about their tax payments.
Rising Reports of Scams
HMRC’s annual fraud and error statistics show an increasing number of scams reported, suggesting that the general public are still at risk of scammers and fraudsters. At a time when taxpayers are more concerned than ever about documented cases of misconduct, a lot of them perhaps did not appreciate the intricacies of the real deal comms from HMRC.
These fraudsters often target victims through email and text messaging, pretending to be HMRC. They want to tempt people into a pernicious sense of confidence. These alerts can include messages with extremely urgent and alarming demands for personal information, fraudulently stating that the taxpayer or recipient is due a tax refund. Victims are under pressure to act quickly, which can result in hasty decisions and the potential for personal data exposure.
Identifying Fake Communications
To prevent people from falling for these scams, HMRC urges everyone to check that any communication you receive is genuine. All official HMRC web addresses will always end in a gov.uk address. Consumers are encouraged to take a close look at URLs before sharing any personal information through the Internet.
Additionally, HMRC urges members of the public to send in suspicious looking emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599. This proactive approach leads to the proactive identification of fraudulent activities. It stops future scams from victimizing additional potential victims.
Ongoing Vigilance Required
Scam warnings Tax scams targeting taxpayers happen year-round, which is why it’s important for everyone to stay on guard against these scams. The faux urgency that scammers imbue in their targets can drive hasty decisions that may lead to loss of funds or identity theft.
When we all report scams, we help the wider fraud-fighting community keep people informed and protect them from HMRC’s fight against fraud. Targeted awareness and education in high scam risk areas about the warning signs of scams will go a long way in protecting taxpayers from these fraudulent schemes.