HMRC scams are out there. Is HMRC really asking for money? Or is it a fraudster?

HMRC responded to more than 846,000 referrals of suspicious HMRC contact last year. Almost 500,000 of the referrals were fraudsters offering fake tax rebates.

Fraudsters contact businesses and members of the public via telephone, SMS and email to try to scam potential victims. Anyone can search Companies House and obtain the details of company directors and then target them with fake HMRC communications. It’s easy to do!

How fraudsters try to scam you by pretending to be HMRC

The fraudster will have obtained your personal information, either from a data leak, from Companies House or from your social media profiles. They’ll then make contact with you in the following ways, pretending to be HMRC:

Email: You’ll receive an email that’s apparently from HMRC, telling you that you either owe them money, or that you’re owed a tax rebate. You just need to ‘click here’ to pay, or enter your account details to receive your rebate.

SMS: Same as above, you’ll receive an SMS with a malicious link designed to redirect you to a convincing-looking HMRC page in the hope that you’ll enter your bank details.

Telephone: The fraudster will call, using the information they have about you to convince you it’s really HMRC. They’ll make reference to the fact they’re calling from an HMRC number, but they’ll have just copied that number using freely available software tricks. They’ll put pressure on you to act now or the police will arrest you.

How can I protect myself from HMRC scams?

If you receive any communication from HMRC telling you you’re entitled to a tax rebate or tax refund, or demanding that you pay the money you owe right away, be very suspicious! And remember:

Anyone can copy the number of a legitimate organisation. Just because the number matches doesn’t mean it’s really them!

Don’t ever click on links in SMS messages or emails.

If someone puts pressure on you to pay HMRC right away, it’s almost certainly a scam.

If you have any questions for HMRC, just hang up and call them directly via the phone number on their website, not the one that’s given to you in any suspicious communications.

You can find out more on how to protect yourself on the HMRC website.

I lost money to an HMRC scam. Can Refundee help?

Before you do anything else, make sure you’ve told your bank and Action Fraud that you’ve lost money to a scam. If you’re not happy with the response from your bank, Refundee can help.

Refundee is an FCA-regulated claims management company (CMC), but you don’t need to use us or any other CMC to try to get your money back. You can do this yourself by following our guide.

If you’d like Refundee to manage your case for you from start to finish, we’d be happy to do this for you. Our fees are fair, industry-lowest, and straightforward. We only charge a fee if we’re successful, and there are no hidden or upfront costs. Our fee is between 15% and 25% plus VAT depending on how much money you get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. To see your potential fee, use the fee estimate calculator on our fees page and review the fee banding and example illustrations.