Beware of tax return scam

Some residents in the city have been sent an official-looking email that looks as if it has been sent by HM Revenue & Customs claiming that there has been an error on the calculation of their tax. The email address is returns@hmr.com – HM Revenue & Customs email addresses end in .gov.uk.

It’s thought that the scam is being distributed to tie in with the end of the tax year as people are filling in their tax returns.

The email asks the recipient to create a ‘tax gateway account’ to get funds credited back into their bank account. To do this the recipient would have to hand over details of their bank account.
Trading Standards Manager Jo Player said:

“The email address is clearly bogus and we urge people not to hand over their personal financial information.

“HMRC would advise customers of an under or overpayment in writing. The bogus email also contains a hyperlink to click on which takes people to a website that looks like the HMRC site, but that too is false and designed purely and simply to obtain bank details.”