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HMRC Urges UK Taxpayers to be Wary of Phishing E-mail

HMRC, i.e. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, has cautioned U.K taxpayers that an e-mail scam is currently pushing a phishing message across the Internet.

In this phony e-mail, it is stated that during an ongoing system upgrade at HMRC, records have revealed that there has been an overpayment of tax on the part of the recipient during the last 7 years.

The e-mail then tells the reader that he can claim the refund by just filling out an attached form, providing all the details of his financial status. Thereafter, when he submits the filled out form, HMRC will immediately proceed to facilitate the refund. The amount of the reimbursement is 256.99 GBP, the e-mail specifies.

Moreover, according to the e-mail, the time for processing the refund may cover a maximum period of three weeks. Also, the recipient must send the filled out form to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs by April 1, 2010.

In the meantime, the phishing e-mail tries to sound legitimate and authentic. So, it ends with the signature of S.M. Roberts, who is the senior manager at HMRC.

However, owing to the fresh e-mail assault, HMRC informs users that the accompanying message is completely a fraud and that they won't have any money credited in their name. On the contrary, money will vanish from their accounts in favor of the fraudsters', as they had furnished all their financial and other personal information in the fake questionnaire.

The conclusion, therefore, is that taxpayers shouldn't ever provide anyone with personal account information, especially their security codes, despite a frightening e-mail, apparently from HMRC, coming into their inbox.

In the meantime, to successfully identify spot phishing e-mails, the Revenue & Customs gives certain suggestions to taxpayers. First, an e-mail which is devoid of the recipient's full name is most certainly bogus. Secondly, HMRC never sends tax related notifications through e-mail.

In the end, the Revenue & Customs suggests that in case any one receives an HMRC e-mail, which he thinks is phony, should immediately send it over to its account. This will help the body take suitable action towards catching the offender(s), HMRC explains.

Related article: HMRC - Fake Refund E-mails Tricking Tax Payers

» SPAMfighter News - 3/24/2010

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