FRAUDSTERS are using social media platforms to con people into sharing valuable information online as part of a tax refund scam.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is aware that criminals are attempting to obtain customers’ Government Gateway logins and other personal details online.
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This enables the fraudster to register for Income Tax Self Assessment and submit bogus tax refund claims before pocketing the repayment.
There have been reports of individuals, ranging from teenagers to pensioners, being targeted on social media platforms by these fraudsters seeking to ‘borrow’ their identities.
In return, the individual is promised a cut of the tax refund ‘risk-free’.
Handing over sensitive personal information to criminals like this, even inadvertently, risks individuals involving themselves in tax fraud, and having to pay back the full value of the fraudulent claim.
Customers should therefore only deal with HMRC directly or through their tax advisor in relation to their Self Assessment tax refunds.
Simon Cubitt, head of cybercrime at HMRC said: “People need to think extremely carefully before they involve themselves in an arrangement like this, because if something looks too good to be true, then it almost certainly is.
“Those who get involved risk becoming the victim of blackmail, threats of violence and wider abuse of their personal…
