Just a heads up

[hammy]

Now I know your not thick but I thought I would give the heads up to a scam email going around of which I received today, This is copy and paste so believe me it would be hard to fall for it


After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of 973.90 GBP. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 5-7 days in order to process it.

Please download the document attached to this email to confirm your identity.

Note: You will need to provide a valid bank accoun in which the funds will be payed to.
A refund can be delayed for some reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.

Best Regards,
HM Revenue & Customs.

[BeerFunk]

Now I know your not thick but I thought I would give the heads up to a scam email going around of which I received today, This is copy and paste so believe me it would be hard to fall for it


After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of 973.90 GBP. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 5-7 days in order to process it.

Please download the document attached to this email to confirm your identity.

Note: You will need to provide a valid bank accoun in which the funds will be payed to.
A refund can be delayed for some reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.

Best Regards,
HM Revenue & Customs.That mistake jumps straight out at me.

And they'd never send an email about this sort of thing, it would always be a letter.

[hammy]

Now I know your not thick but I thought I would give the heads up to a scam email going around of which I received today, This is copy and paste so believe me it would be hard to fall for it


After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible
to receive a tax refund of 973.90 GBP. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 5-7 days in order to process it.

Please download the document attached to this email to confirm your identity.

Note: You will need to provide a valid bank accoun in which the funds will be payed to.
A refund can be delayed for some reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.

Best Regards,
HM Revenue & Customs.


That mistake jumps straight out at me.

And they'd never send an email about this sort of thing, it would always be a letter.

Didnt you see that one

[Charlie Brown]

This was on the BBC news.

[BeerFunk]

Didnt you see that oneHa, clearly not! :o

[Andy Collins]

You know its a scam when you see the words Best Regards in a inland revenue letter.

Incidently I had that email today! er in doors was all excited when she saw the refund amount.... So I didn't tell her it was a scam :)

[DazzyD]

I'm absolutely amazed at this one. :eek:

Amazed at the fact that today is the first time you've seen this email, Hammy. This scam has been around for years now!!!

However, if this is the first time you've seen it then others could be receiving it for the first time too and may not be as scam-aware as you. So, it's only right to make it clear that your efforts to post this info are very much appreciated. As I've said before, when it comes to these scams, knowledge is everything and, by sharing this knowledge with everyone, we may just put an end to scams forever when the scammers realise people aren't falling for them anymore. :)

(well, we can dream, can't we??)

[Daryll]

submitted forms go to link removed by admin , which is a holding page.

Daryll

[DJDC]

had 2 come through today also inland revenue will always be a gov.uk, with government emails usually having gsi.gov.uk, I did some checking and got it linked back to Spain

[DazzyD]

submitted forms go to link removed by admin , which is a holding page.

Daryll

Hi Daryll

I'm not sure that you should be posting links to sites involved in any type of scams. The reason being is that if someone clicks the link to check out the page there is the possibility of infection by the "drive-by" method. This is where malicious code is embedded in to the web page itself which can be downloaded to the visitor's computer just by viewing the page - no need to click anything on the page.

To be fair, I've checked out the site and haven't identified any such infections or potential malware. However, it is a known site for phishing attacks so I'd still suggest people steer well clear of it:

http://lists.clean-mx.com/pipermail/phishwatch/20111110/042890.html

[DazzyD]

had 2 come through today also inland revenue will always be a gov.uk, with government emails usually having gsi.gov.uk, I did some checking and got it linked back to Spain

The problem is that email addresses can be so easily masked and appear to come from addresses that they're not from.

As for the "gsi" bit, this is the Government's own secure email / intranet network (I myself have a ".gsi." email address for my day job) and it's used solely (as far as I'm aware) for the purpose of securely sending information between Government departments (a gsi to gsi email will automatically be routed to use the Government's secure email channel). However, I have noticed some exeptions where these email addresses are used to receive emails from the public ([email protected] for example - this is the email address that you should forward all HMRC/Inland Revenue scam emails to). From what I remember, though, an email sent to a gsi email address from an unsecure (ie normal) email address will not be secure.

[DJDC]

The problem is that email addresses can be so easily masked and appear to come from addresses that they're not from.

As for the "gsi" bit, this is the Government's own secure email / intranet network (I myself have a ".gsi." email address for my day job) and it's used solely (as far as I'm aware) for the purpose of securely sending information between Government departments (a gsi to gsi email will automatically be routed to use the Government's secure email channel). However, I have noticed some exeptions where these email addresses are used to receive emails from the public ([email protected] for example - this is the email address that you should forward all HMRC/Inland Revenue scam emails to). From what I remember, though, an email sent to a gsi email address from an unsecure (ie normal) email address will not be secure.

I checked the address but could see it was masked, I could even give you the acutal details. But to me apart from the spelling, and nature of the email the email address did ring out to me as wrong, for the reasons I stated, most gov website public facing emails will be a gsi. such as CPS, MOJ, HA, others may be gov.uk such as MCA, EA, or VOSA. I too am a gsi!

The key thing it is a scam and for those who don't know it's worth been told not to click the link or respond in any way just delete.

[DazzyD]

I didn't realise that gsi was used for general public emails. This was never mentioned in the training that we got when we got when we got moved to the secure system.

Actually, forget what I've mentioned about gsi. I've gotten my abbreviations mixed up!!! The secure email system we use is "GCSX". :doh: :daft:

[STEVE HANLEY]

I also receieved this email today. (Err Yesterday:D :D ) In my junkbox. Dumped it straight in to the recycle bin

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

I got it yesterday ( Saturday ) flipping heck theyve been hard at it!

[DJ Paulie]

I think it's gas that I get these sort of emails, cosidering my company is registered as a irish one, I have 2 Irish bank accounts, and I'm registered with the Irish revenue ! I also get ones from UK banks saying my account has been comprimised. But so far nothing has caused me any problems. I use Thunderbird for my email and Firefox for browsing. They both are pretty good at detecting spam or phishing emails if you have the add ons.

[DJDC]

As well as the HMRC wanting to pay me more than once, I keep been reminded that my Santander account has either unsucessfull log in attempts, or warning messages, and several banks keep asking me to update records, provide new security info etc. Shame I don't bank with any of them funnily enough I don't get any from the 'Bank' I do use?