I received an email claiming to be from HM Revenue & Customs telling me I was due a tax refund and asking me to click on a button to claim it. I suspected it was a scam and checked with HMRC, which told me it would never send out such correspondence by email. Other readers should be warned not to reply to such emails.
GA, Morpeth, Northumberland
Given the end of January deadline for self-assessment tax returns to be completed, there are a lot of these kinds of scams whizzing around right now designed to mislead. HMRC tells consumers to check common examples of phishing emails and bogus contacts which it has listed online.
It says it will also help its investigations if consumers report “HMRC-related” websites, emails, phone numbers, phone calls or text messages that they think may be suspicious. Forward them to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete them.
In addition, don’t open any attachments or click on any links, as they may contain malicious software or direct you to a bogus website.
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