Tax Refund Email Scams and How to Spot Them

Posted 14 Feb 16

Every year, especially during the self-assessment and tax period, the inboxes of small company owners and sole traders alike become targets of tax refund emails appearing to come from HMRC. A lot of people know that these emails are actually scammers attempting to steal their bank or card details, however, if you are not cautious or unsure how to recognise the elements which make these emails fake, you can easily become a victim of one of them.

How does the phishing scam work?

Between the end of January and the first weeks of February you might receive an email which seems to come from HMRC’s personal tax team, sending you information about a refund you are eligible to receive. Once you click on the link attached, it will direct you to an external website or ask you to download and fill out a form which supposedly is meant to confirm the refund. While filing the form, you will be asked to provide the sender with the sensitive and important information, such as your bank and card details, which will allow them to defraud you.

How to recognise scam emails?

Although at first the email might seem genuine, there are little elements which betray its inauthenticity. Some of them might include small formatting and spelling mistakes, strange security certificates, or unrecognisable characters within the text. However, even if you overlook these mistakes, there is one crucial thing worth remembering. HMRC will never tell you about a tax rebate, or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email.

This means, no matter how genuine the email looks, if it requires you to use any payment information, you may safely flag it as scam. If you are owed a tax refund, you will be notified via post.

There are other signs confirming the inauthenticity of these emails, such as:

most filters will catch them and automatically relegate them to your spam folder

the addressee field is left blank, indicating these emails have been bulk BCC’d to a number of people

the email does not address you by name

the form asks for far too much information (mother’s maiden name, driving license number, verified by Visa password, etc).

If any of these emails find their way into your main inbox, we recommend you contact your accountant, who will forward them on to HMRC. It will allow HMRC to strengthen their security system and help them stay aware of the latest phishing methods. If you received an email and you are unsure about its authenticity, the safest and quickest way to find it out is by contacting a professional and certified accountant. At Tawanda Accountants we make a mission of clearing out any of our client’s doubts and concerns. We can also help you determine if you are eligible for a tax refund and take care of the claiming process for you. Contact us today to make sure you avoid any confusions and financial loses.

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