Crooks target online tax system
The HMRC has today revealed a new strategy which criminal gangs are using to arrange for tax rebates to be paid to themselves. While no figures were given with regards to the number of attempted frauds and amount of money actually paid out, it must be significant to prompt HM Revenue and Customs to issue such a warning about the system. So what exactly is going on?
The issue relates to the online self-assessment tax system which more and more people are using, and which was actually promoted heavily by the UK government. With more than 9.5 million taxpayers now part of the self-assessment system they are able to pay their taxes online and also arrange refunds where applicable. It now appears as though criminal gangs are managing to infiltrate the passwords and user names of many people in the UK who use the self-assessment system and requesting tax rebates be paid to them. It is unclear exactly how these passwords have been obtained but with more and more people now waiting for HMRC passwords to drop through their letterbox the situation is becoming critical.
It is vital for those who use the Internet, for whatever reason, to ensure that their usernames and passwords are stored in a secure manner and are not easily accessible by any third party.
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