COVID-19 Health Warning On Tax Scammers

It has long been the case that cyber attacks have been increasing in nature given the advancement of technology. The creativeness used by would be criminals to obtain information by deception (phishing) for their own personal gain has also evolved.

Unfortunately, we have seen examples recently, where would-be scammers have targeted the current COVID-19 situation to try and obtain information for illegal activities and it is therefore important to be extremely vigilant in particular when receiving calls from people you don’t know, emails and texts with links inviting you to ‘claim a refund’ or something similar. Unless you know it is legitimate, you should never click the links suggested and if in any doubt, we are here to help and can advise you if you receive, or have received a communication of this nature.

HMRC do not tell individual’s about refunds or penalties by text or calls and this seems to be an area of particular focus at present. Such communications can be reported to HMRC so that they can monitor and trace trends. Further information can be found on HMRC website.