Warning to beware of ‘tax refund’ scam (From York Press)
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Warning to beware of ‘tax refund’ scam
9:04am Friday 8th June 2012 in News
By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk
Paul Collington, who was the victim of a hoax tax email
A MAN who fell foul of an email scam supposedly offering a tax rebate from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has warned other York residents to beware of the hoax.
Paul Collington, 51, from Bishopthorpe Road, York, said he lost £160 to the so-called phishing-style scam after receiving an email telling him he was due a refund of £244.77 and asking for his bank account details.
He said: “They said I had £244 due to me and I thought: ‘I’ll have some of that’.
“It asked for my credit card details but then it started asking for my pin numbers and I thought: ‘Whoa, I’m not giving them that’.”
However, Mr Collington did send off enough details for the fraudsters to gain access to his bank account. He said: “I sent it off on Monday and they took four lots of £40 out. It was almost straight away over the course of the day.”
The convincing-looking email includes a case number and even the name of a tax credit officer supposedly handling the refund.
After realising what had happened Mr Collington notified his bank who confirmed his account had been “compromised”. The money has since been repaid by his bank, but he has warned other potential victims to beware.
“Never give out your details,” he said. “Revenue & Customs told me they will never contact you by email.”
A spokesman for HMRC said: “We only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. We don’t use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances. Anyone who receives an email claiming to be from HMRC should send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently.”
HMRC said that during last year’s tax credits renewals period, from April to July, nearly 94,000 phishing emails were reported by customers, despite the department helping to shut down more than 360 scam websites during the period.
Comments(19)
notmyrealname
says...
9:17am Fri 8 Jun 12
notmyrealname
says...
9:17am Fri 8 Jun 12
Blythespirit
says...
9:31am Fri 8 Jun 12
Texas66
says...
9:50am Fri 8 Jun 12
Whitetornado
says...
9:55am Fri 8 Jun 12
Secondly, Why did the bank give a refund when this chap had volunteered his details. I thought they only gave refunds when your account had been hacked?
In all cases, remember the old saying "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is"
Whitetornado
says...
9:56am Fri 8 Jun 12
Secondly, Why did the bank give a refund when this chap had volunteered his details. I thought they only gave refunds when your account had been hacked?
In all cases, remember the old saying "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is"
Grumpy Old Man
says...
9:59am Fri 8 Jun 12
MrsHoney
says...
10:10am Fri 8 Jun 12
Kevin Turvey
says...
11:15am Fri 8 Jun 12
Poor ‘victim’.. press the delete key!
Due care and attention of your own affairs mate!
Has he also responded to male appenge size increase wonder drug emails, has won the Spanish lottery without entering, has been sent texts telling him he has been awarded £3000 compensation for the accident that he has not had and has been ‘given free £30’ to spend at an online casino as well? Because they are all genuine, people just want to give you money!
Big business (banks etc) as well as the criminal fraternity must love him!
However he does get his mugshot in the paper and his 15 seconds of fame (or ridicule)!
That must have been worth it eh!
Paul – a tip…. IT’S TOO HARD EARNED TO GIVE AWAY TO FRAUDSTERS (I INCLUDE BIG BUSINESS/GOVERNMENTS AND COUNCILS IN THAT DESCRIPTION!)
YorkPatrol
says...
12:09pm Fri 8 Jun 12
derrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
hifive
says...
12:15pm Fri 8 Jun 12
joshe
says...
2:01pm Fri 8 Jun 12
However, I then received an email saying I have won $55m on the Nigeria lottery. I didn't even buy a ticket! The money goes in to my account on Monday. The poor guy who had the winning ticket didn't have his own bank account so I've lent him mine. "I'm in the money"
muckybutt
says...
4:39pm Fri 8 Jun 12
TAX RETURN FOR THE YEAR 2011
RECALCULATION OF YOUR TAX REFUND
LOCAL OFFICE No. 3819
TAX CREDIT OFFICER: Tina Frank
TAX REFUND ID NUMBER: 381716209
REFUND AMOUNT: 244.79 GBP
Dear Applicant,
The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and as
applicable, copyright in these is reserved to HM Revenue & Customs.
Unless expressly authorised by us, any further dissemination or
distribution of this email or its attachments is prohibited.
If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please reply to
inform us that you have received this email in error and then delete it
without retaining any copy.
I am sending this email to announce: After the last annual calculation of
your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a
tax refund of 244.79 GBP
You have attached the tax return form with the TAX REFUND NUMBER ID: 381716209,
complete the tax return form attached to this message.
After completing the form, please submit the form by clicking the SUBMIT
button on form and allow us 5-9 business days in order to process it.
Our head office address can be found on our web site at HM Revenue & Customs.
Sincerely,
Tina Frank
HMRC Tax Credit Office
Preston
TAX REFUND ID: UK381716209-HMRC
HM Revenue & Customs UK All rights reserved.
Do ya think its real ? do you ? really ? what a muppet !
muckybutt
says...
4:41pm Fri 8 Jun 12
YorkToff
says...
7:23pm Fri 8 Jun 12
This scam pales into insignificance compared to the theft of our state pensions.
Sillybillies
says...
9:11pm Fri 8 Jun 12
The biggest scam is the tories forcing us all to work until we drop for the state pension and yet all you mugs have fallen for it.
Because Blair and Brown bankrupted the country like Labour always do, leaving the Tories to pick up the pieces.
In what way have we fallen for it? Suggest options.
july45
says...
10:06pm Fri 8 Jun 12
YorkToff
says...
11:58am Sat 9 Jun 12
Sillybillies wrote:Blair and Brown did not bankrupt the country there was a global crisis in 2008 which caused a run on the worlds banks if you had not noticed.
The biggest scam is the tories forcing us all to work until we drop for the state pension and yet all you mugs have fallen for it.
Because Blair and Brown bankrupted the country like Labour always do, leaving the Tories to pick up the pieces.
In what way have we fallen for it? Suggest options.
The UK is not bankrupt it has £7 trillion in property alone and this money will eventually filter back into the economy.
The Tories have shattered the economy by borrowing more than ever and causing a double-dip recession and mass unemployment.
People have fallen for it by supporting firstly Labour and then the Tories who each have increased the retirement age which is theft plain and simple.
What a scam the biggest scam in recent years and hardly anyone has said a dicky bird.
My options are quite simple - stop the 1% from punishing the 99% through austerity and the theft of our retirement.
NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
9:16am Fri 8 Jun 12