Hertfordshire Police Cautions Netizens of E-mail Scam

An alert message has been released by Herts (Hertfordshire, UK) police about a fake e-mail which tries to trick public to reveal private and bank account details.

The scam e-mail, which is being circulated in Herts, seems to be emerging from Revenue and Customs asserting that recipients will get tax refund.

The mail asks the recipients to fill a form attached with the e-mail, asking them for their extremely sensitive private and bank information, which includes the security code mentioned on the reverse of credit cards and bank cards.

Community safety officer Sgt Nat Landau stated that there are several scams that attack unwary members of the public by diverse means like phone calls, e-mails, etc. These scam e-mails on the surface may appear very legitimate but it's just an illusiuon, as per the news published by Herts And Essex Observer on September 10, 2009.Herts police also added that users should never reveal their personal details to such uninvited e-mails unless and until they are very sure about the sender and source.

Further, Officer Nat Landau recommended users to immediately delete any such uninvited or suspicious e-mail.

As per the police, these kinds of scam have been circulating for long in the country. A latest phishing scam that disguises as a tax rebate application has also been found by HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs).

Security officials and HMRC said that it would never inform the people about a tax refund through e-mail, nor would it ask them to fill the form for receiving the tax rebate.

In January 2009, a scam of similar sort was reported and chief executive of HMRC stated that it was the most sophisticated and fertile phishing scam that it had witnessed. He had stated that anyone who getting that e-mail should forward it to them so that it could be further investigated.

» SPAMfighter News - 10/2/2009