Fake tax refunds in email scam

One of our members received one of these emails in October and was immediately suspicious.  The WLA would like to warn landlords not to be taken in by this scam.  If you receive one of these scam emails do not to click on links to websites.  Please report it to the tax office mail and delete the message.   HMRC has stressed that it would never inform people of a tax rebate by e-mail or on the telephone. The tax office only contacts customers who are due a refund in writing by post.   The messages aim to extract credit card and bank account details which leaves recipients at risk of their accounts being emptied and the details sold on to professional criminal gangs, in so-called "sucker lists".   It is reported that the latest version of this scam originated from various different websites, which operated for 20 minutes before changing their domain name.    Losses from all scams in the UK are estimated to total £3.5bn a year. The Office of Fair Trading has calculated that 3.2 million people are caught out by scams each year.