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2w ago

HMRC discloses £47m phishing fraud affecting 100,000 tax accounts

Taxpayers will receive letters this month confirming their accounts are secured with no individual financial losses.

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Overview

  • Organised crime groups carried out a phishing operation in December 2024 using personal data obtained outside HMRC to access and create around 100,000 PAYE accounts.
  • Criminals successfully extracted approximately £47 million in fraudulent repayments from HMRC’s systems.
  • HMRC has locked down affected accounts, deleted login credentials and removed false entries while assuring no customer lost personal funds.
  • A UK and overseas investigation last year led to several arrests and prompted HMRC to fortify its account security measures.
  • Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier criticised HMRC for only revealing the breach during Wednesday’s hearing instead of notifying Parliament earlier.