Reading time 5 minutes
At a glance:
HMRC scams are common, especially around tax season and the self-assessment tax deadline.
This type of scam often falsely claims that the person receiving it is owed a tax refund, or owes tax to HMRC.
Protect yourself by understanding how these scams work and how to spot one.
How does a HMRC tax scam work?
Broadly, there are two main types of HMRC tax scams:
Claims of owed tax – The fake HMRC agent claims someone owes tax and must pay right now. These scams steal personal, banking details and money.
Claims of tax refunds – The scammers claim a target is due a tax refund. This tactic is used to gather the same sensitive information. The person targeted may also be asked to pay a fee to get the money.
HMRC tax scammers reach out by phone, emails, letters, or social media. They then pretend to be HMRC. They often use official-looking logos and language to appear credible.
The claims are designed to create a sense of urgency to make people respond quickly. This is to discourage the person targeted from checking if the message is real.
The goal is to get people to pay money or hand over their banking details. As well as money, the scammers might ask for sensitive information to carry out identity theft or fraud later.
Ways HMRC scams target people
People can be targeted in lots of ways and the scammers will change their approach depending on how they make contact:
Fake Letters
People get a letter that seems to be from HMRC, complete with official logos and language.
These letters might demand payment for an unpaid tax bill or give instructions to claim a tax refund.
The goal is to trick people into following the instructions in the letter. The scam will use threatening language to make the person reading the letter feel like they need to act without thinking.
Phone Calls
Scammers make telephone calls pretending to be from HMRC. They might claim there is an urgent tax issue that needs to be resolved immediately.
The call may sound pre-recorded or robotic and ask the person targeted to press keys to speak to a call handler.
During the call, they will pressure the target for personal, card and banking details. These details are then used for fraud.
The caller will often make it seem like the target is in a lot of trouble and that acting now is the only way to prevent fines or even jail time.
The target gets an email that looks like it is from HMRC, including official logos and language. These emails claim there is a tax issue that needs immediate attention.
There will then be a link to a fake website where people give their details to resolve the issue. The website page appears to be the legitimate HMRC website, with similar logos and fonts.
Sophisticated email scams can even get past the scam filter on your email host to appear alongside other ‘real’ emails.
Text and WhatsApp Messages
Texts and WhatsApp messages are used by scammers pretending to be from HMRC. These messages work in a similar way to the email scams and often have a link to a fake website.
Encrypted services with high privacy settings can make it difficult to verify the genuine sender.
How to spot a HMRC tax scam
Hannah Bingle, our Financial Crime Awareness Specialist, explains what HMRC can look like:
"Most people don’t hear from HMRC very often and when they do it’s all about tax, which can often be an uncertain and emotive topic. Scammers take advantage of the uncertainty and high emotions people can have when it comes to tax matters and make contact pretending to be the tax authority.
The contact can take different forms, including text messages, emails and calls. These often say you’ve not paid enough tax and you need to act promptly to fix it, or you’re owed a refund, but you don’t have long to make a claim. Both stories have an urgency to make you cooperate quickly, and may have links to complete personal information.
The forms that they link to may look like genuine HMRC pages, but they’re really to provide any data you fill in to the scammer.
Be cautious about any unexpected requests for your personal information or money. You can check to see if any contact is genuine: Check a list of genuine HMRC contacts - GOV.UK. "
How to report a HMRC scam
If you’ve received a suspicious message, you can report it.
Report a scam by text
To report a HMRC scam that you’ve received over text, forward it on for free to 7726. Most phone networks support this scheme. You can also report a scam text on the National Cyber Security Centre website.
Report a scam by email
If the scam has arrived in your inbox, you can report it by emailing a screenshot to report@phishing.gov.uk.
Get our help
You can always get in contact with our customer support team and find more help by checking out our fraud and scams page.
The content on this page is for reference. It is not financial advice. For help with money issues, try MoneyHelper.
