Following the deadline for submission of the self assessment tax returns, there is a new wave of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) phishing emails circulating.  These emails have the subject of ‘tax refund notification’ and are sent from ‘autorefund@hmrc.gov.uk’.

To the unsuspecting recipient, this email may appear genuine as it contains the HMRC logo and the Business Link and Directgov logos in the footer.  The email contains a link which asks you to click to submit your refund request which will take you to a fake website where you will be asked to complete further personal details which will then be captured and used by the fraudster.

There are plenty of other HMRC phishing emails which have been reported to HMRC and a full list can be viewed by clicking the link provided.  We have reported this current version to HMRC and so the list may be updated shortly.

For the avoidance of doubt, HMRC do not send tax refund notifications by email. If you do receive such an email and are concerned, or if you have already acted on such an email, please contact your normal adviser at Edwin Smith.