Website of the UK government

While HMRC may send emails from time to time, they never do so requesting login, bank and credit cards details.

HMRC is asking its customers to be aware that, although these fraudulent emails may contain the HMRC logo and other details, they are fake and customers should never respond to an email which asks for personal information. While HMRC may send emails from time to time, they 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.

Points to look for

HMRC has compiled a list of key points to look out for to help customers recognise a fraudulent email:

• 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
• 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

Further Information

For more information on recent fraud attempts and other examples, follow the links below.

• Existing fraud attempts and information on how to report them (opens new window)
• Fake departmental names (opens new window)