24 July 2018

Phishing emails

We have been made aware that our website has been targeted as part of a phishing scam. This means that people may receive an email that appears to come from Revenue Benefits (with an email address ending .revenuebenefits.org.uk) telling them they may be due a tax refund. It may ask them to click a link within the email or open an attachment.

The main thing to note is that these emails have not come from the Revenue Benefits team. You should not open any attachment or click any of the links within the email, nor should you provide any personal or financial information in response to such an email.

Phishing is when someone sends a fake email or text, pretending to be from a legitimate organisation (in this case http://www.revenuebenefits.org.uk). Similar emails are often sent purporting to be from HMRC. These emails are designed to steal personal and financial details or deliver malware to the recipient’s computer.

The Revenue Benefits website is run by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, part of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, in partnership with LASA. Both are charitable organisations. We are not part of HMRC and do not have access to the tax and tax credit information held by HMRC.

Similarly, HMRC will never offer you a repayment, notify you of a tax refund or ask you to disclose personal or financial information by email or fax. If you choose to receive paperless notifications from HMRC, you may receive email messages which will direct you to sign in to your HMRC online account from where you can view the notification. HMRC will never include a link to your account. You can find out more about phishing emails involving HMRC on the GOV.UK website.

For more information on the different kinds of online scams visit our ‘protecting yourself online’ page on the main LITRG website. On that page, we detail the various types of phishing scam and what to do if you think you have fallen victim to one