Scam or no scam?

[Whiternoise]

Since they generally do it from your P45 (assuming this is income) they know where the money was going . When I claimed my income tax back I went down to the office and they got me to fill in a form and a few weeks later i had my cheque.

But they wouldn't need your bank details for a cheque anyway - so long as it's got your name on it, the bank should accept it. That's the reason cheques are so good!

But of course if you don't ask you won't get. I know a friend who just won't go to the tax office (for some stupid reason), but he's got a good few thousands pounds in unclaimed income tax

[Powderhound]

Surely the instant give away is that the email is from @hmrc.gov.uk when the legitimate phishing reporting one is @hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

[JK Ferret]

Forward it to: phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...-tax-scam.html

Thanks for the email and story linky (hadn't seen it yet)

LoL?! Are you being serious JK Ferret or are you just having a laugh with HEXUS?

Can't believe so called experienced computer folk are even questioning this.

Yes, I was being serious... no, I'm not a so-called experienced computer folk person, I'm a computer noob

Although I have been ill and tired as hell lately.. Good thing I know good people

How do you think the gov get your email?

The government knows everything*, even the walls have ears, etc.

everything does not include "use of common sense".

[kalniel]

From HMRC:

HMRC do not send notifications of a tax rebate over email, or request that you update your security certification.

If you receive an email that does not address you by your first name and surname and then asks you to click on a link and/or disclose your details, you may well be revealing your details to a fraudulent website.

If you have received an email from HMRC that you consider to be fraudulent, please forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

However, if you have already disclosed any of your personal information, for example your HMRC User ID, password or National Insurance number, please forward a report to security.custcon@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.

Do not disclose any personal details or information in the email report to us.

You should however list the type(s) of information that you disclosed. For example – I disclosed my Name, Address, Date of Birth, bank card details, HMRC User ID etc.

HMRC cannot reply to every email, but action is taken on each report received.

[matty-hodgson]

JK, come to the LAN!

[Disturbedguy]

Matty accept my MSN invite I sent about 2 weeks ago..nub!

[jim]

Way too easy to fake the addresses on emails...

[j1979]

i had the exact same email too.. i knew it was fake, i was owed far more

[dbh]

It's defo a scam I got one a few months back as well it didn't go to my junk mail but a quick google told me it was bull !

[Saracen]

A simple rule ..... never, ever ever provide information like bank details, or even mothers maiden name, to an unsolicited email, absolutely regardless of who it's from .... or appears to be from.

I don't care if it's from my "bank", or some government department, or verifiably and provebly from God Almightly, I don't respond to that type of email, and never ever provide personal information in response to one.

If it is legit, get in touch with HMRC who, no doubt, will tell you they never send that type of email. For a start, I doubt Data Protection legislation would let them - they'd be sending sensitive personal information, like your details inc Tax ref, in non-encrypted form via a public service where any number of people could intercept it. And if it doesn't have details like your tax reference number on it, then it wouldn't be from HMRC anyway.


Once again, never ever respond (with accurate information) to unsolicited emails. It is so commonly a scam that legit organisations don't do it. And if in doubt, contact the organisation directly and ask about your refund. If you're entitled to a refund, ask HMRC (by phone) for a claim form. Who knows, you might actually be entitled to one, but if you are, it'll be a coincidence and this email has nothing to do with it, knows nothing about it and is a scam.

Oh, and by the way, HMRC's attitude seems to be that if you want a refund, you have to claim it. Very rarely will they volunteer that information.

[shelley bda]

Not just emails they do it through.... I keep getting phone calls from someone ( foreigner ) claiming to be from my bank.... They say they are calling from Halifax, and can I verify my card number which starts with 4462... Obviously I don't tell them anything, and I say i'll ring the bank myself. After the first call I did ring Halifax and they confirmed that no one had been trying to call me, and pointed out that all current account cards start with 4462, and that all their call centre staff are british. Next time the scammers rang I asked for proof that they were who they said they were, they hung up... All was quiet until last night, when they rang again, and got a blast of RATM Killing in the name of, blasted at them...... We are registered with tps, so I don't understand why they are calling tbh.

[Saracen]

...... We are registered with tps, so I don't understand why they are calling tbh.

You think scammers care about a marketing Code of Conduct? Or, for that matter, about British law, if they've foreign-based, and most are?

The TPS reduces (though doesn't entirely eliminate) pestering from legit UK companies, but even legit foreign companies, calling from abroad, aren't bound by it, so they both can and do ignore it, even if they're aware of it.

[scaryjim]

The title of this thread sounds like the name of some game-show inspired by the financial crisis.

Your right - the televised name is going to be 'General Election' however, around 4 month from now..

Naah - there isn't even the vaguest chance of *not* getting scammed at the next general election... *sigh*

[santa claus]

Bear in mind too that the info sought in the attachment may not be required at all - it could alternatively be a mechanism for collecting "live" email addresses. If it was an .exe best to clean up in case you have a trojan/keystroke logger.

Government departments will not approach you in this way nor your Bank.

[TheAnimus]

With things like this, if you don't think its a scam give them all your details.

That way, when you've got no money left for food and starve to death (painfully i'd hope) you pay the price for helping proliferate the 35k spam a day my 12 year old email address gets.

[Zak33]

Ferret.. you were RIGHT to ask here because now more people know of it's existance

Thank you