New scam warning from accountants.

[CIDCouriers-dot-com]

I found this on another forum I frequent, posted this morning - may be worth noting.


Please be aware that some clients have received e-mails purporting to be
from HM Revenue and Customs. They advise that a tax refund is due and
request bank/credit card details.

These e-mails are fraudulent. HMRC do not currently contact their
"customers" by e-mail for general correspondence matters. Please do not
follow their instructions."

[C.A.B.s]

Hi Rod

Thanks for letting us know about the scam.

Being a qualified bookkeeper, its nice to keep up to date on this

so thank you for bringing it to everyones attention.

Caroline

[Rob]

Rod,

Thanks for the heads up. Have not seen this one before and clearly the scamsters are getting more inventive.

You really have to be on your toes.

The latest one I keep getting is for Google Adwords saying my account has been suspended and I need to update my payment/credit card details. Must admit the first time I got it I did think twice but I logged into my account and all looked OK.

I finally twigged when I saw the e-mail address the scamster had used was different from my Google one.

The trick is to check anything online via your normal login page as opposed to clicking a link within the e-mail.

[Rob]

Just after putting the last post up I remember about a site which is great fun.

The site is called Ebolamonkeyman.com (http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/)

The site is run by a guy who was bombarded by the 419 nigerian scammers - you know the ones 'I work in a security company and have a found an unclaimed box. Give your bank details to send the money and I'll send you $17 trillion for your trouble'.

Well this guy turns the table and pretends to be interested. He posted all the correspondence between each them and its hillarious. A great read on a dull afternoon!

By the way if you are even the slightest offended by bad language or innuendo don't go there!

Here's the link again (http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/).

[C.A.B.s]

I found this on another forum I frequent, posted this morning - may be worth noting.


Please be aware that some clients have received e-mails purporting to be
from HM Revenue and Customs. They advise that a tax refund is due and
request bank/credit card details.

These e-mails are fraudulent. HMRC do not currently contact their
"customers" by e-mail for general correspondence matters. Please do not
follow their instructions."

This Comes Direct From the HMRC Website

Fraudsters are sending out high volumes of emails supposedly sent from HM Revenue & Customs (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/spoofs.htm)(HMRC) offering tax rebates. These and other examples can be found on our existing fraud attempts page. Please be aware that although these fraudulent emails may contain the HMRC logo and other details, they are fake and you should never respond to an email which asks for personal information. While we may send you emails from time to time, we would never do so requesting login, bank and credit cards details.

If you suspect you have received a fraudulent email please do not follow any links within the email, disclose any details or respond to it.

Forward it to us at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. We cannot reply on each email we receive, but the information will be used to help reduce online fraud.

Points to look for
We want to make sure you can recognise a fraudulent email if you receive one, so we have compiled this list of key


The padlock - when you log on to HMRC Online Services you are always in a 'secure session' - which is shown by the padlock in the bottom right hand corner of your web browser.


Your name - fraudulent emails are not normally addressed to you personally, they can be missing addressee details or contain something vague such as 'Dear valued customer'.


The sender - HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was formed on the 18 April 2005 following the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise departments. Those former departmental names no longer exist. Recent fraud attempts have used the following fake departmental names.


Embedded links - the email may include a link that you are asked to follow to take you to a website. Following the link takes you to a site that may look genuine, but it is most probably a fake. In the email, if you hover your mouse pointer over the link it will show the real address you will be directed to.



Caroline