WARNING – Malicious Email supposedly from HMRC

I thought you should be made aware that I received a spam email today – purportedly from HMRC (Inland Revenue)

The body of the email contained the following text –

“Taxpayer ID: simon-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXUK
Tax Type: INCOME TAX

Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: simon-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXUK” 

Below the above text was a link to a website which looked like it was for the HMRC (Inland Revenue) website, but when you look closer you can see that the address is in fact not a HMRC address –

http:  / / www. online.  hmrc . gov.  nyyyyasz . com / …………………………………..

I have expanded the URL above to ensure it is not clickable (!) – notice that the above address contains nyyyyasz – what you would actually be clicking on would be a sub-domain of the website (nyyyyasz . com) but the above web address is made to look like the official UK HMRC (inland revenue) website!

If you do a DNS you will see that the above domain is not registered to the UK government anyway!

Be careful – there are people out there on the Internet who want to rip you off.

My Tips to Avoid Being Ripped Off

1. Shred all bank statements, credit card statements etc – opt electronic statements if possible.

2. Never click a link in an email from a source you are not familiar with.

3. (I) never click links in emails purporting to be from my bank, mortgage company or credit card company – I simply log in through the usual web address and check my “messages” – if in doubt phone/email your bank/credit card company/mortgage lender to see is they sent the email.

4. Often emails like this are made to provoke a negative reaction from the recipient – the wording is such as to infer a negative outcome if you don’t click and take action immediately – they are simply trying to catch you off your guard such as

“warning – we will cancel your account”

“you owe us tax”

“someone has tried to log into your account fraudulently”

you get the idea.

THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!

Please tell friends, family and colleagues about this scam – it could save the a lot of hassle, time, money and heartache.