Taxpayers warned about phone scam

Date: 12th August 2010

Small businesses owners in the UK could be among some of the country's taxpayers to be targeted by a new telephone scam.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued a warning to taxpayers that a spate of calls have recently been made by fraudsters claiming to be taxmen.

The calls state that taxpayers are due a rebate from HMRC and ask the victims to supply their bank details over the phone.

It comes at a time when phishing emails, aimed at obtaining bank details by acting as correspondence from HMRC, are also reported to be on the rise.

Chris Hopson, director of customer contact at HMRC, said: "We only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. We never use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances.

"We strongly urge anyone receiving such a phone call not to give any information to the caller, but report it to the police straightaway. If customers receive an email claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it to us for investigation before deleting it permanently."

Posted by Jacob Williams