HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is warning taxpayers to be vigilant following a surge of fake ‘phishing’ emails sent out by fraudsters, following the 31 January Self Assessment tax return filing deadline.

The email informs the recipient they are due a tax rebate, and provides a click-through link to a replica of the HMRC website. The recipient is asked to provide their credit card details.

Fraudsters then try to take money from the account using the details provided. Victims risk having their bank accounts emptied and their personal details sold on to other organised criminal gangs.

In the last three months, HMRC has shut down 99 websites that were responsible for sending out the fake tax rebate emails.

Chris Hopson, Director of Customer Contact at HMRC, said:

“As a matter of policy, HMRC will only ever contact customers who are due a tax refund in writing by post. If anyone receives an email offering a tax rebate claiming to be from HMRC, we recommend they send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it permanently.”