Consumers were yesterday warned to be on their guard against fraudulent e-mails telling them they were due to get a tax refund.
And, in another scam, police said thieves have stolen the identity of thousands of cars by cloning their log books.
HM Revenue and Customs thinks around 20,000 scam tax e-mails have been sent during the past week alone, as fraudsters try to cash in on people’s preoccupation with tax in the run-up to the self-assessment deadline.
The e-mails tell people they are due a tax refund and ask them to fill in an online form giving their bank account or credit card details so the rebate can be paid.
The fraudsters then use the information to either empty victims’ accounts or spend up to their credit limit, before passing on their details to other criminal gangs.
HMRC warned consumers not to respond to the e-mails, stressing that it only contacts people about refunds by post.
It is expecting there to be a “massive upsurge” in the number of so-called phishing e-mails immediately after yesterday’s deadline, as people waited to hear about genuine tax refunds.
HMRC said: “We never use e-mails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances. We strongly urge anyone receiving such an e-mail to send it to us for investigation.”
Last year HMRC worked with other law enforcement agencies to shut down scam networks in countries, including Austria, Mexico, Korea, the US, Thailand and Japan, as well as the UK.
By midnight on Saturday night a record 6.2million people had filed their tax return online, up on the total of 5.8million who did it that way last year.
HMRC expected around 186,000 people to file their return yesterday to meet the deadline and avoid a £100 late payment charge. If their form has not been submitted by July 31 they are liable for another £100 penalty.
The Association of Chief Police Officers meanwhile said yesterday that the log books of thousands of cars have been cloned over the past two years after blank registration documents were taken.
Officers are working with the DVLA to probe the theft of the identities of 11,000 cars worth £13million.
Mark Hooper said officers are recovering about 10 faked log books per week and that up to 130,000 blank documents have not yet been found.
The papers went missing from the DVLA in 2006 and allow thieves to “clone” details of anyone’s car.
If they have stolen a specific model, they can make it look legitimate by using details of another car of the same make in the log book.
A DVLA spokesman said: “We have every sympathy with any member of the public who unwittingly buys a stolen vehicle. DVLA provides every assistance to help people avoid this, including an information hotline for the public to check whether a certificate may be invalid prior to purchase of a vehicle.”
A list of the serial numbers of the stolen log books is on the DVLA website.