HMRC online tax returns - the good news and bad news

Filed Under: Phishing, Spam

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has told The Register that a record number of British taxpayers have filed their returns via the internet.

Nearly 5.8 million people are said to have filed their returns online before the January 31st deadline, and, according to the HMRC, 67% of UK taxpayers used the online system to file their self-assessment tax returns this year.

Although The Register reports that there have been some grumbles from users who found the site bogged down in traffic, the HMRC is presenting this as a success story.

As Paul Baccas explains on the SophosLabs blog, however, an increasing number of people using online systems to manage their finances is only likely to encourage more phishers to try their hand at stealing money.

HMRC phishing email

Ironically this particular phish arrived after the UK's deadline for filing your tax return online. Nevertheless some people may have fallen foul of it, and put their identity and finances at risk.

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About the author

Graham Cluley has worked in the computer security industry for more than 20 years, developing anti-virus software and doing quite a lot of talking about internet threats. He's won awards for his blogging, but is proudest of the text adventure games he wrote when he was still wearing short trousers. You can learn more about those (the games, not the trousers) at grahamcluley.com. Send Graham an email, subscribe to his updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and App.net, and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.