CRIMINALS SET UP FAKE REVENUE WEBSITE
Criminals have hijacked Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs by setting up a fake website in its name, designed to harvest taxpayers’ personal details for fraud.
Emails purporting to come from HMRC, from genuine-looking addresses like ‘no-reply@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk’, arrive in user inboxes and direct them to the spoof via a link.
Both the site and the mails, claiming to be a reminder to file returns or claim rebates, use the same graphics and fonts as the real ‘hmrc.gov.uk,’ and sport its official logo.
Correctly-spelt captions on data fields on the landing page of the site, which HMRC is aware of, invite taxpayers to insert their name, home address and credit card details.
Tax officials yesterday said they would never inform customers of a rebate via email, or invite them to complete an online form with their credit card details to receive it.
The ruse, then, seems likelier to fool self-assessors, aware that HMRC gears up its publicity at this time of the year to remind them not to miss the filing deadline.
Victims of either scam, both of which land taxpayers on the same site, may not know their accounts have been raided until their bank alerts them, potentially weeks after.
One sign however that the site is not what it seems, comes when taxpayers are redirected to HMRC’s real website, having already inputted their personal details.
In an online security alert, HMRC said it never emails from the addresses used, including ‘info@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk,’ ‘claims@hmrc.direct.gov.uk,’ and ‘admin@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.’