HSBC UK warns of March towards HMRC scams by criminals

This warning is being made as the bank confirms:

• March is the month where most impersonation scams take place.
• In March 2023, the bank was notified of over 200 cases where customers had lost money to impersonation scams;
• Almost £1.1million scammed from HSBC UK customers in impersonation scams in March 2023 alone, with £5,791 being the average amount scammed per case;
• This accounts for approximately one ninth of the value of all impersonation scams notified to the bank across the whole of 2023.

These scams, often perpetrated through phishing emails, phone calls, or text messages, pose a significant risk to consumers‘ financial well-being.

David Callington, HSBC UK’s Head of Fraud, warned: “Crooks use every trick in the book to hoodwink their victims into sending money to them while pretending to be someone they know and trust, whether that is their bank, the Police, their energy, broadband or mobile phone provider, or HMRC. They are particularly active and pretending to represent HMRC in March, with people tending to be more susceptible because they may expect contact as it is the end of the tax year.

“Some scammers will have a scattergun approach sending a high number of emails or SMS messages hoping to hook an unwitting victim. But, it is likely that some scammers will be more targeted and know some details of their victims already, harvested in different ways from varied sources. The scammers will try to inject urgency alongside a threat of legal action being taken, even arrest, if a payment is not made immediately. This ‘hot state’ is what scammers rely on to panic their innocent victims into making a payment.

“Now, at a time when the financial resilience of many is challenged as a result of the increased cost of living, losing any money to a scam could have an even greater impact on personal finances. The good news is, there are ways to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of an HMRC scam.”

People can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of an HMRC scam by:

• Being on the lookout for scam emails and texts from fraudsters posing as HMRC towards the end of the tax year – hover your cursor over the sender field in any email, which should show you the actual email address it was sent from, helping you identify bogus emails.
• Refusing to hand over bank account or card details for a suggested a tax rebate. Scammers may also send fake bank details to fool people into sending tax payments to the scammers instead of to HMRC.
• Don’t let your guard down. If you get an email or message from HMRC, stop and think. Could it be a scam? HMRC will never ask you to hand over confidential information like passwords, one-time passcodes (OTPs) or your PIN. You should also never share your HMRC login details.
• If you’re contacted and think it might be a tax scam - don’t reply, don’t click on any links and don’t open any attachments.
• If you need to contact HMRC, only use phone numbers, links or web addresses from official websites or letters.

Media enquiries to:

Steve Gracey: steve.gracey@hsbc.com        
Email: UKPressOffice@hsbc.co.uk