Scammers posing as HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) were rife in March 2021, with a staggering 79,477 calls reported.
However, as of December 2021, reported scam calls were down by 97 per cent to 2,491.
As well as calls, phishing emails saw a huge decline of 92 per cent throughout the year and fraudulent texts were also down 97 per cent.
These scam calls, texts and emails from fraudsters claiming to be from HMRC, aim to extract personal information to steal money from victims by instructing people to make a payment or click on unknown links.
What has contributed to this decline in scams?
HMRC regularly releases guidance on how to spot fraudulent content to raise awareness and increase customer protection.
In the past year, HMRC responded to over 670,000 reports of suspicious content.
Mike Fell, HMRC’s Head of Cyber Security Operations, commented on the decline:
“We work incredibly hard to protect the public from these criminals who ruin lives by stealing from people.
“It’s great news that fewer people are receiving and reporting these attempted frauds, but it is still important they continue to report suspicious contact to us.
“We will continue to do everything we can to protect the public from these cynical attempts to impersonate HMRC to steal from people.”
If you receive a suspicious call, text, or email you can take the following precautions:
- Do not open any links or download content
- Contact HMRC to check if the correspondence is genuine
- Do not give any personal information over the phone or transfer money
For advice with related matters, contact our expert team today.
