Self-Assessment Scam Warning

Fraudsters are continuing to target taxpayers with scam emails in advance of the deadline for the submission of Self-Assessment returns for the 2022-23 tax year. In the 12 months to September 2023, HMRC received more than 130,000 reports of suspicious contact of which almost 58,000 related to bogus tax rebate referrals.

A number of these scams purport to tell taxpayers they are due a rebate / refund of tax from HMRC and ask for bank or credit card details in order to send the fake tax refund. The fraudsters use various means to try and scam people including making contact by phone calls, texts or emails. Fraudsters have been known to threaten victims with arrest or imprisonment if a bogus tax bill is not paid immediately.