The government and HMRC have warned individuals and business owners who are required to submit a self-assessment return that they are being targeted by scammers via fake emails.

HMRC sends out emails to everyone registered with the tax authority as a reminder to complete their returns before the January 31 deadline, and online scammers are creating counterfeit versions of these in an attempt to get people to give away personal and financial information. Furthermore, in addition to fraudulent emails that look authentic, the scammers are also targeting individuals with texts and phone calls that claim to be from the authority.

A number of these fake emails, telephone calls and texts tell the recipient that they are entitled to a rebate or refund on the tax they have paid and ask them to input their bank details to receive it. Using an accountant with expertise in tax refund services in Goole or any other area they are based in can help people avoid falling victim to this.

Talking to Your Money, Karl Khan from HMRC stated that the authority was well aware of scammers exploiting concern over the tax deadline to trick people into falling for frauds, adding:

“If someone calls, emails or texts claiming to be from HMRC, offering financial help or asking for money, it might be a scam. Please take a moment to think before parting with any private information or money.”

In the last year, over 846,000 reports of contact purportedly from HMRC have been reported to the authority by members of the public.