With scammers regularly posing as HMRC, it’s important to be aware of the different ways that HMRC may to contact you, and what kind of things they would and would not ask.
Methods of Contact
HMRC may use more than one method of getting in touch with you. For example, they may contact you by letter before following up with an email, phone call, or text message.
If you think you’ve been contacted my HMRC but aren’t sure if it’s genuine, you can use this link to see different the communication methods for each HMRC contact, and what kind of things they would and would not ask you. .
Tax Rebates
One of the most popular HMRC scams used by fraudsters is to claim that you are due a tax rebate, and ask you for your bank details or other personal or financial information so that your refund can be processed. In the 12 months to 31st July 2025, HMRC received over 170,000 scam referrals, with 47,000 of these reports involving fake tax refund claims.
If you receive an email or text from a number claiming to be HMRC promising a tax rebate, don’t click on any links that have been sent to you and don’t disclose any personal or financial information.
If you do think you’re owed a tax rebate, you can check by following the steps on the government website.
What Might HMRC Ask Me?
HMRC may call you about any outstanding tax bills and may use automated messages, but they will always include your unique taxpayer reference number.
They will never ask you for your personal or financial information by email or text message, such as bank account details or passwords.
Tax Deadlines
It’s important to remain particularly vigilant around looming tax deadlines. The National Trading Standards eCrime unit has confirmed that there is an increase in fraudulent tax phishing emails from fraudsters claiming to be HMRC around tax deadlines. These fraudulent emails may attempt to steal money from you, persuade you to send money, or gather your personal information for identity theft.
HMRC calls on Self Assessment customers to remain particularly vigilant regarding scams, due to fraudsters claiming to be from the department. Scammers often target individuals when they are preparing to file there tax returns around the Self Assessment deadline of 31st January.
If you’ve received a suspicious text from someone claiming to be HMRC, you can send this to 60599 or email phishing@hmrc.gov.uk
For more information on how to spot and report scam emails, texts, websites, and phone calls, the National Cyber Security Centre has advice on their page.