HMRC (the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority) is issuing guidance to protect workers against a spate of recent sophisticated tax scams. These scams are designed to grant criminals access to your personal data and bank accounts.

These scams usually take the guise of government messages and platforms. You might receive emails, calls, text messages or even WhatsApp messages offering you a tax refund or advising you that your tax details have expired and that you need to update them online. Other scams involve advising you that your National Insurance Number has been used to commit fraud.

These are scams. HMRC will never contact you like this about money that you owe or are owed.

Recognising a scam

Here are some things you can look out for that are typically telltale signs of a scam:

• Someone contacting you asking you to urgently transfer money or share personal information
• Someone threatening you with arrest
• Communications that contain misspellings or poor grammar
• Email addresses or URLs that don’t look right
• Communications that contain a generic greeting - ‘Dear valued customer’
• A sense of urgency or threatening language
• Requests for any personal information

How to protect yourself

Remember that what criminals are trying to obtain is your personal information and/or your money. Any time you carry out a transaction that involves parting with your money or your personal details, make sure you take the time to verify the source.

This includes your Government Gateway sign-in details. Don’t reveal these to anyone as your HMRC information gives access to your personal records, including your bank account data.

If you are unsure about a message you have received, contact HMRC directly using the details on their website.

Reporting a scam

If you’re targeted by any suspicious texts claiming to be from HMRC, please forward them to 60599. Emails can be forwarded to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, and you can report phone calls on gov.uk.

If you have had money stolen, or been scammed out of money, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud.