University students are being targeted by scammers with fake tax refunds in an effort to steal money and personal details, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned.
The scammers are using seemingly legitimate university email addresses (for example ‘@uc.ac.uk’) in order to avoid detection.
This is the largest direct attack the HMRC said it has seen on students with thousands of fraud attempts being reported in just a few weeks across the UK. So far tax scams are understood to have targeted students at hundreds of universities including establishments in Aberdeen, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Manchester Metropolitan, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Queen Mary (London), Queen’s (Belfast), Southampton, Sussex, University College London, Warwick.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP, said: "HMRC will never inform you about tax refunds by email, text or voicemail. If you receive one of these messages it is a scam.
"Do not click on any links in these messages, and forward them to HMRC’s phishing email address.
“Although HMRC is cracking down hard on internet scams, criminals will stop at nothing to steal personal information. I’d encourage all students to become phishing aware - it could save you a lot of money.”
Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said: "Devious fraudsters will try every trick in the book to convince victims to hand over their personal information, often with devastating consequences. It is vital that students spot the signs of fraudulent emails to avoid falling victim by following HMRC’s advice.
“Together with HMRC, we work tirelessly to stop fraudsters in their tracks and to prevent unsuspecting members of the public from falling victim to fraud.”
HMRC said it is working with and encouraging all universities to raise awareness of scams and many have already begun taking action to warn their students of the risks.
They said HMRC-related email scams often spoof the branding of GOV.UK and well known credit cards in attempt to look authentic. The recipient’s name and email address may be included several times within the email itself.
Fraudulent emails and texts will regularly include links which take students to websites where their information can be stolen. Between April and September this year, HMRC requested that 7,500 of these phishing sites be deactivated. This compares to around 5,200 requests during the same period in 2017.
HMRC phishing advice:
* recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or bank details
* stay safe - do not give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you weren’t expecting
* take action - forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and texts to 60599
* If you suffer financial loss, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool
* check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scams and recognise genuine HMRC contact
Crime Stories In Plymouth
Do you have a crime story to share or for us to investigate?
Get in touch using carl.eve@reachplc.com, call 01752 293119 or tweet @CarlEveCrime
Want to read more?
To keep up to date with Plymouth Live's latest news, follow us on Facebook here and Twitter here , or visit our homepage at www.plymouthlive.com
For Devon news, find Devon Live's Facebook page here , or their Twitter page here , or visit their homepage at www.devonlive.com
For Cornwall news, find Cornwall Live's Facebook page here , or their Twitter page here , or visit their homepage at www.cornwalllive.com
