HM Revenue & Customs warns of phishing emails

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has been forced to warn taxpayers not to fall for a new round of phishing emails designed to harvest bank account details.

The scam emails inform the recipient that they are due a tax rebate, and provide a click-through link to a replica of the HMRC site.

"The recipient is asked to provide their credit card details. Fraudsters then try to take money from the account using the details provided," said an HMRC statement.

"Victims risk having their bank accounts emptied and their personal details sold on to other organised criminal gangs."

The department revealed that it has shut down 99 rogue sites responsible for sending out this type of scam email in the past three months.

"As a matter of policy, HMRC will only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post," said HMRC director of customer contact Chris Hopson.

"If anyone receives an email offering a tax rebate claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently."

HMRC warned customers not to visit suspicious web sites, click on links in suspicious emails or open attachments.