THOUSAND OF STUDENTS ARE BEING TARGETED TO RELEASE THEIR BANK DETAILS BY SCAM EMAIL PURPORTEDLY FROM HMRC. Since the HMRC tax code scandal a little while ago, HMRC have been automatically issuing tax calculations and tax refunds as well as demands to rectify their mistakes. Many Students will have received refunds or a notification a refund is due by POST. These are more than likely genuine, but the fraudsters are sending emails to students in the hope the student will think it is really HMRC following up on their refund notice.

HMRC have announced they NEVER send refund notifications by emails and if you have received one of these then it is probably part of a scam. A typical email may contain the following narrative:

Claim Your Tax Refund Online

Dear Customer,

HM Revenue & Customs has identified an error in the calculation of your tax from the last payment, amounting to £ 1,400.00. To return the excess payment, please click “Claim My Refund” below:

Claim My Refund

How to return itself have not changed, only the format of what you claim and how you get paid back from HMRC has changed digitally.

We are here to Ensure the correct tax is paid at the right time, whether this relates to payment of taxes received by the department or entitlement to benefits paid.

Best Regards,
HM Revenue & Customs Refund Department

These can look at though they come from genuine HMRC email addresses such as

• services@hmrc.co.uk
• refunds@hmrc.gov.uk
• customs@hmrc.gov.uk
• srvcs@hmrc.gov.uk
• message@tax.co.uk
• alertsonline@hmrc.co.uk
• info@hmrc.gov.uk
• noreply@hmrc.gov.uk
• securemail@hmrc.co.uk
• rebate@hmrc.gov.uk
• info.hmrc@direct.gov.uk
• payment@hmrc.gov.uk

Do not respond to these emails and contact HMRC if you wish to verify any particulars.