Taxpayers must be aware of scammers pretending to be HMRC this Christmas, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Fiona Fernie, a Partner at the firm, said, “Scammers know that during the Christmas season people’s emotions and stress levels may be running high.
“This makes it easier to take advantage of them, and scammers are already actively targeting people. A common scam is to pose as HMRC and offer a tax refund or threaten legal action because of underpayment of tax.
“The former usually involves the scammer asking for bank details in order to enable the processing of the ‘repayment’. The latter usually involves asking for a payment online or over the telephone to allow ‘enforcement action’ to be halted.
“HMRC issues guidance to help people identify scams and ensure that the scammers do not succeed in obtaining money from innocent victims. According to HMRC, a communication, regardless of if it is a phone call, an email or a text message, could be a scam if it:
- Rushes you
- Is threatening
- Is unexpected
- Asks for personal information like bank details
- Tells you to transfer money
- Offers a refund, tax rebate or grant.”
She added, “One of the most powerful weapons people have against scammers is to simply slow down, stop and think.
“When a communication is received suggesting that money is owed or a refund is due, do not act on it, no matter how urgent it sounds. Instead verify the communication via genuine HMRC channels. HMRC does not leave voicemails threatening legal action or threatening arrest. Any such message is likely to be a scam.
“Although HMRC does use text messages to communicate with taxpayers, they NEVER ask for personal or financial information in those text messages and certainly do not send links to provide such information. Do NOT reply to any message or open any links in messages which appear to be seeking personal or financial information and report the suspicious text message to 60599 or [email protected].
“Taxpayers may receive tax related reminders via WhatsApp but only if they have subscribed to the UK Government Channel and any reminder will not seek any personal or financial information. If such messages contain any sort of link or it is possible to reply to them, then they are likely to be scams.
“Finally, HMRC will not use social media messages or comments to communicate with you about your tax affairs, so if you receive any, report and then delete them.”
