Beware of tax e-mail scam (From This Is Cheshire)

Beware of tax e-mail scam

11:06am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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HER Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has released a warning following the announcement that up to 6 million UK residents have not paid enough tax.

Warrington residents are reminded to be on their guard due to the recent rise in phishing e-mails throughout the country. The current tax issue is another opportunity scammers are expected to exploit.

‘Phishing’ is an online phenomenon where criminals seek to obtain personal or sensitive data. This is usually done through e-mails claiming to be from popular sites that link the victim to a false website. Often these appear identical to their legitimate counterpart.

Warrington and Halton Trading Standards have emphasised that HMRC does not inform the public of tax issues via e-mail. Those affected will be contacted by post only.

If anyone receives an e-mail claiming to be from HMRC, they should not respond but forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk