With Government support measures for coronavirus continuing, unfortunately this also brings further opportunities for scams by fraudsters. Some of the known COVID-19 scams, currently circulating, include:
SEISS email scams
Emails are being sent in various formats advising taxpayers that they can now claim for the fifth self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) grant. It often includes a link to an online website asking you to sign in, detailing that you will also need your passport and driving licence details to submit the application.
Similar scam emails were sent for previous grants and the email address from the sender is often a big giveaway that it is not a genuine communication. That, coupled with the fact that it is not currently possible to claim for the fifth grant and won’t be until the end of July!
Claims for the fourth grant have now closed and HMRC will contact eligible taxpayers for the fifth and final grant around mid-July.
Text scams
There are also known text scams which advise that taxpayers are entitled to funding ‘due to the new lockdown support plan’ or offering a refund in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Action to take
If you receive a suspected scam communication, do not open any attachments, or click on any links as they could direct you to a fake website or contain malicious software.
You can report the scam to HMRC online, via email or text. Further details on how to do this can be found here.
Remember that HMRC will never send notifications of a tax rebate or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email or text message.