Cybercriminals are sending out fake HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) emails claiming that the recipients have received some form of tax refund or rebate and they need to open the attached document or click on a link to confirm and claim their refunds.
Fake and Virus HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax Refund Email Messages
Dear <name>
After the last yearly computations of your financial functioning we have defined that you have the right to obtain a tax rebate of 934.80. Please confirm the tax rebate claim and permit us have 6-9 days so that we execute it. A rebate can be postponed for a variety of reasons. For instance confirming unfounded data or applying not in time.
To access the form for your tax rebate, view the report attached. Document Reference: (92054568).
Regards, HM Revenue Service. We apologize for the inconvenience.
The security and confidentiality of your personal information is important for us. If you have any questions, please either call the toll-free customer service phone number.
© 2014, all rights reserved
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Dear <email address>
We have detected that you have paid too much tax in the past, due to an official error. Therefore HMRC applied ESC B41 to issue a repayment for tax years which are now out of date under the strict statute.
Please follow the link below to reclaim your overpaid tax.
Document Reference: 88532371.
The security and confidentiality of your personal information is important for us. If you have any questions, please either call the toll-free customer service phone number.
© 2014, all rights reserved
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Also, they are sending out fake email messages like the following, which claims that the recipients have unpaid invoices and need to pay in full order to prevent legal actions being taken against them.
Dear <email address>
Our system registered an unpaid invoice Due to an unpaid invoice registered in our system,we recommend you to pay it in full to avoid legal actions. Please check attached file for more detailed information.
Note : You should pay it in full to avoid legal actions in 3 business days.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
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The attachments that these email messages have are not documents, but dangerous computer viruses or Trojan horses, disguised as PDF and other documents, that will infect your computer.
Here are some of the attachments that these email messages contain
- HMRC_Tax_Notice.zip contains the malicious file HMRC_Tax_Notice.scr
- HMRC_00B087E6B9.zip contains the malicious file report_140234-50-00 _o383834.pdf.exe
- HMRC_4BD297EFCF.zip contains the malicious file order_3762234-429423.pdf.exe
Once your computer has become infected with one of the malicious viruses or Trojan horses, the cybercriminals behind this email message will be able to access and take control of your computer remotely from anywhere around the world. They may spy on you, use your computer to commit cybercrimes, or steal your personal and financial information.
Now, if you have already opened any of the malicious email attachments, please do a full scan of your computer with the antivirus software installed on it.
If you don’t have antivirus software installed on your computer, please click here for a list of free antivirus software.
Never open an attachment that has a name ending with “.exe” or “.scr”, because these are computer programs that can infect your computer with a virus or some other malware.
Click here for a list of email attachments you should never open, regardless of where they came from.
The virus email message is similar to the following: