Tax scam’sso ‘phishy’

TAXPAYERS in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are being warned of scam ‘phishing’ e-mails following the January 31 self-assessment deadline.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued the warning about the e-mail which informs the recipient they are due a tax rebate, with a click-through link to a replica of the HMRC website.

The recipient is then asked for credit card details. Victims risk having their bank accounts emptied and their personal details sold on to other organised criminal gangs.

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In the last three months, HMRC has shut down 99 websites that were responsible for sending out the fake rebate e-mails.

Chris Hopson, director of customer contact, said: “As a matter of policy, HMRC will only ever contact customers due a tax refund in writing by post. If anyone receives an e-mail offering a tax rebate claiming to be from HMRC, delete it permanently.”