HMRC’s intelligent technology intercepted £100 million worth of fraudulent or incorrect tax repayment claims last year – but it’s recently been revealed that some online “phishing scams” and hackers were undeterred by the safeguards.
Cyber criminals have reportedly stolen money by hacking into the systems of HM Revenue & Customs, and hijacking and manipulating self-assessment records.
Recent claims have revealed that fraudsters have been using so-called “phishing” scams to obtain login details used by taxpayers to access HMRC’s online returns service – often through disguised spam emails and fraudulent links.
These scams have deceived people into handing over their personal information directly – unaware that the website or person requesting them is in no way linked with HMRC.
Cyber-criminals have then been accessing online tax accounts to alter earnings information, so that HMRC offers them a repayment. The fraudsters have then edited taxpayers’ bank details on returns, so that the money is transferred into newly-created accounts.
HMRC told The Sunday Times that it was “one of the most phished organisations in the world”, but refused to specify how many successful attacks had taken place, instead warning that online login details to HMRC systems are “like gold dust to fraudsters” – and advising taxpayers to proceed with great caution.
The report comes just weeks after HMRC’s January self-assessment deadline, which saw more than nine million taxpayers file self-assessment details. Approximately 17,000 attempts to make fraudulent or incorrect claims were intercepted by HMRC’s data technology.