A Birmingham Accountant Cautions People about E-mail Tax Scam

A Birmingham accountant has alerted businesses to be careful of malicious after he was attacked by an e-mail tax scam, as per the news by BIRMINGHAMPOST on July 17, 2009.

Senior Partner of the Birmingham office of Chartered Accountants 'Haines Watts', Henry Briggs, said that the phishing mail seemed authentic though the method and language were unlike to the usual Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) communication.

Henry Briggs stated - what distinguishes these scams from other e-mail scams that look for private details of the recipients is that they usually have the legitimate website address and logo. The increased requirement to file tax returns online by HMRC and the facility to pay tax by credit card add to their authenticity.

Briggs further cautioned that not only personal taxpayers were attacked by the ongoing phishing attack but big firms were also hit by the same phishing e-mail.

The accountant said that it was never sensible to reveal any financial information through mail. He also cautioned that doubtful taxpayers should contact their district tax office straight away and express their concerns to an Inspector of Taxes.

Briggs also said - there are some telltale signs but usually they would be discovered by advisors used to deal with HMRC.

References to GBP (Great Britain Pound) and words such as fiscal are not used in communication by HMRC. The account informed that what was worrying that legislation had presently allowed the taxman to collect taxes directly from an account of a taxpayer.

In addition, HMRC also provides several instructions that the taxpayers can use to distinguish between phishing mails and legitimate mails.

These are - the padlock - anyone using the online services of HMRC is always in a secure session, shown by the padlock in the bottom right hand corner of the web browser. Moreover, phishing mails like the one accountant is referring to are not often addressed to someone in person. In other words, these mails are unsolicited. For now, anyone who thinks that he has got a phishing mail like Mr. Henry should report it to HMRC at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

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