New HMRC text message phishing scam targets self-employed
A new phishing scam, designed to steal personal and financial details from self-employed workers using the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), has been uncovered by litigation company Griffin Law.
Victims are informed via SMS that they may be eligible for a tax refund and are redirected to a website that looks like the official HMRC site.
From there, victims are asked to provide personal data including email address and HMRC login details. A fake refund amount then appears before victims are redirected to another page that asks for financial information such as account number, security code and expiry date, to claim the bogus amount.
HMRC will never send notifications of a tax rebate or ask that personal or payment information be disclosed by email or text message
You should forward any suspicious emails and details of suspicious phone calls purporting to be from HMRC to [email protected] and any suspicious text messages to 60599.
Any suspicious email can be forwarded to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) and text messages should be forwarded to 7726.
Duncan is a technology professional with over 20 years experience of working in various IT roles. He has a interest in cyber security, and has a wide range of other skills in radio, electronics and telecommunications.