HMRC warns of new fraudulent email that ‘harvests’ people’s financial details

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is warning Britons to watch out for a new phishing scam that is “harvesting” people’s personal Government Gateway credentials.

According to HMRC, the scam emails are not offering the usual tax refund, but instead, ask the recipient to click a link to “update their records” which are “out of date”.

One of the scam emails refers to the Self-Assessment Online Profile, saying that it is out of date – but this is just one of many templates associated with this scam.

The email links then direct people to a fake Government Gateway log-in page and then to subsequent pages where their details are stolen.

A spokesperson from HMRC said: “We’ve received more than 400 referrals from customers in the past fortnight, meaning that there are hundreds, possibly thousands, out there that haven’t been reported to us. The ones we know about will represent only a tiny fraction of the total in circulation.”

READ MORE: HSBC warns Britons of password scam that ‘appears genuine’ to steal your money

Phishing scams are growing increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect, making it all the more crucial to remain vigilant and avoid clicking links in emails.

The HMRC spokesperson said: “We advise people never to share HMRC login details with anyone, including your tax agent if you have one. Treat your tax login with the same care as your banking app login details.

“Your HMRC login details give access to your personal information, including your bank account details. Someone using those details could steal from you and from HMRC, and leave you having to pay back the full value of any bogus claim made on your behalf.”

According to the National Cyber Security Centre, HMRC was the third most impersonated UK Government body in 2022, behind the NHS and TV Licensing.

Kelly Paterson, chief information and security officer, said: “Criminals are great pretenders. They use emails, phone calls and texts to try and dupe citizens, and often mimic Government messages to make them appear authentic.

“Unexpected contacts like these should set alarm bells ringing, so take your time and check HMRC scams advice on GOV.UK.”

Worrying new research from Citizens Advice found as many as 40 million people have been targeted by scams so far this year.

The charity’s data revealed over-75s were the most commonly targeted, with 87 percent facing a scam and most often by telephone. However, the next most at-risk age group was 18 to 24 years, with 84 percent targeted usually via text or mobile messaging. This demonstrates how scammers attempt to tailor their approaches to take advantage of their targets

Commenting on the findings, Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at interactive investor, said: “Crooks have gotten creative in how they go about their illegal activities, so we all need to update our idea of what a scam is.

“Financial scams are ever-evolving beasts that need taming. There isn’t a silver bullet solution, but we can all do some things to add a layer of protection against them.”

Mr Jobson continued: “Unscrupulous criminals will stop at nothing to commit fraud. As such, we all need to remain on our guard against scams.

“In addition to the basics, which include not sharing your login credentials and ensuring that online transactions are made from secure and trusted websites, be mindful of who you disclose personal information to and remember that if a proposition seems too good to be true then it probably is.”