Home / Practice News / HMRC E-mail, Text and Phone Scam Alert

HMRC E-mail, Text and Phone Scam Alert

Posted 09/04/20

We have been advised that Scam HMRC texts, e-mails and phone calls are being used to try to fraudulently obtain your personal details.

It has been confirmed that HMRC will never text, e-mail or phone to ask for bank details, PIN or passwords.

Don’t:

Give out private information
Reply to text messages
Download attachments or click links

If you are offered a refund from HMRC in the manner as described above, do not follow the instructions any further.

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WordPress	wordpress_sec	This cookie stores a visitor's unique, randomly generated, session id and is used to pass information between content management system called WordPress to enable it to function correctly. It is forcibly expired when the user closes the browser.	Expires on browser close
WordPress	wordpress_logged_in_xxxx	Creates a session of the user currently logged into the website through the WordPress login page. This expires upon browser close.	Expires on browser close
WordPress	wp-settings-x	Wordpress sets a few wp-settings-[UID] cookies. The number on the end is your individual user ID from the users database table. This is used to customize your view of admin interface, and possibly also the main site interface. This cookie is only applied to persons logging into the website through WordPress.	Expires on browser close
WordPress	wp-settings-time-x	Wordpress sets a few wp-settings-{time}-[UID] cookies. The number on the end is your individual user ID from the users database table. This is used to customize your view of admin interface, and possibly also the main site interface. This cookie is only applied to persons logging into the website through WordPress.	Expires on browser close
WordPress	_icl_current_language	This cookie allows the built in WordPress Multilanguage plugin, to store the user’s current language. This is critical for allowing the site to function properly.	1 day
WordFence	wfwaf-authcookie-(hash)	This cookie is used by the Wordfence firewall to perform a capability check of the current user before WordPress has been loaded. This cookie will only be applied for users who have logged into the website.	Expires on browser close
Litespeed	_lscache_vary	This cookie allows Litespeed to store the user’s login status, the role of current user and if it has admin bar showing or not.	2 days
Litespeed	ls_smartpush	This cookie allows Litespeed to store server settings to help with performance.	2 days

Name	Purpose	Expires
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_gat_irisOpenWebsite	This helps IRIS Software Group, the developer of the website, to monitor site performance for . The data collected is anonymous and is only used for analysing website performance overall.	24 hours
_gat	This is used for managing the rate at which page view requests are made.	Expires on browser close

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Current Tax News Updates

Tax changes to progress to law in the new year

Self-Assessment scammers warning as January deadline nears

Treasury coffers swell from IHT bills - even before imminent reforms set in

Stamp Duty tax receipt trends revealed in new reports

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