UNIVERSITY students are being targeted by scammers with fake tax refunds in an effort to steal money and personal details, says HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The scammers are using seemingly legitimate university email addresses (for example ‘@uc.ac.uk’) in order to avoid detection.
This is the largest direct attack HMRC has seen on students with thousands of fraud attempts being reported in just a few weeks across the UK.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP, said: “HMRC will never inform you about tax refunds by email, text or voicemail. If you receive one of these messages it is a scam. Do not click on any links in these messages, and forward them to HMRC’s phishing email address.
“Although HMRC is cracking down hard on internet scams, criminals will stop at nothing to steal personal information. I’d encourage all students to become phishing aware – it could save you a lot of money.”
Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said: “Devious fraudsters will try every trick in the book to convince victims to hand over their personal information, often with devastating consequences. It is vital that students spot the signs of fraudulent emails to avoid falling victim by following HMRC’s advice.”
