Taxman's phone scam warning

A WARNING has been issued about thieves making phone calls posing as the taxman.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is warning taxpayers to be vigilant following a number of incidents of thieves are making phone calls to inform people they are due a tax rebate.
They then ask for bank card details – and attempt to take money from the account using the details provided.
Victims risk having their bank accounts emptied and their personal details sold on to other organised criminal gangs.
The warning comes amid a recent surge in the number of tax scam “phishing” emails reported to HMRC. In the last three months, HMRC has shut down more than 180 websites that were responsible for sending out the fake tax rebate emails.
HMRC’s Chris Hopson said: “We only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. We never use telephone calls, emails or external companies in these circumstances. We strongly urge anyone receiving such a phone call not to give any information to the caller, but report it to the police straightaway.
“If customers receive an email claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it to us for investigation before deleting it permanently.”
HMRC thoroughly investigates phishing attacks and works with other law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas.
They advise people to forward suspicious emails to HMRC at [email protected] and then delete them.