People are being warned of self assessment refund tax scams.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) say that with the deadline for returns having recently passed, fraudsters are targeting individuals with offers of bogus rebates.
Reports of phishing scams have seen people contacted by email, phone or text message with criminals hoping to get details to access bank accounts.
In the past year, 207,800 reports were made to HMRC about suspicious activity, up 14% from the previous year.
Kelly Paterson, HMRC’s chief security officer, said:
“With the deadline for tax returns behind us, criminals will now try to trick people with fake offers of rebates.
“Scammers will attempt to dupe people by email, phone or texts that mimic government messages to make them appear authentic.
“Don’t rush into anything, take your time and check HMRC scams advice on online.”
Kelly Paterson, HMRC
HMRC are reminding people that they will not email, text or phone customers to tell them that they are due a refund or ask them to request a refund. Any repayments will be made into their chosen bank account and transactions can be seen in their online tax accounts.
People can report potential scams by forwarding emails to [email protected], reporting phone calls online or forwarding texts claiming to be from HMRC to 60599.