A phishing scam designed to steal personal and financial details from self-employed workers is now trying to capture passport information from victims, the National Cyber Security Centre has reported.
Details from a threat report in June explain how people are informed via SMS that they may be eligible for a tax refund. They are then redirected to a fake web page that looks like the official HMRC site.
The recent addition to this scam includes requesting passport information as part of a ‘verification’ process.
HMRC will never send notifications of a tax rebate or ask that personal or payment information, including passport information, be disclosed by email or text message.
You should forward any suspicious emails and details of suspicious phone calls purporting to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and any suspicious text messages to 60599.
The NCSC has information on how self-employed workers, and others, can protect themselves against phishing.
Any suspicious email can be forwarded to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) and text messages should be forwarded to 7726.
Below is a link directing you to a guide (can be downloaded as a pdf) published by the NCSC on what to do if you believe you have been hacked via email or another account.
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Recovering-hacked-online-accounts-infographic.pdf
