Another e-mail scam is making the rounds supposedly offering tax rebates from HMRC.  The e-mail advises you of an amount that you are eligible for and then requests that you complete and submit an attached electronic form. 

There has been a recent increase in fake HMRC e-mails and we’d just like to re-iterate that although HMRC may send you e-mails from time to time, they would never do so requesting login, bank and credit card details.  If you receive an e-mail that you consider to be fraudulent, please forward it to HMRC at phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Once again here is a list of points which HMRC have compiled to help you recognise a scam e-mail:

• Disclosing personal information - HMRC will never ask you to disclose personal information such as your PIN or your passwords, or your bank details. Never disclose this information to anyone.
• The padlock - when you log in to HMRC Online Services you are always in a 'secure session' - which is shown by the padlock or an unbroken key in the bottom right hand corner of your web browser. The beginning of HMRC's address will change from 'http' to 'https' when a secure connection is made.
• Your name - fraudulent emails are not normally addressed to you personally; they can have 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 fake departmental names, and purporting to be sent from HMRC Board Members.
• Links within the email - 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. Always access the HMRC website by typing HMRC's address in the address bar of your web browser.

If you have good cause to suspect that your personal details have been stolen by fraudsters either by email or on the Internet, HMRC recommend that you report the incident to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), via their abuse hotline (eg abuse@yahoo.com, abuse@aol.com etc). They are in a position to close down sites that are found to be bogus.