SEISS scam dupes traders with fake HMRC email
Taxpayers should be warned of a new phishing scam landing in inboxes as the fourth self-employed income support scheme grant is now open for claims.
To the untrained eye, the official-looking Gov.uk logo, typeface and format is convincing enough to fool a self-employed trader to hand over their details in return for an SEISS grant. But this is a new phishing scam that's masquerading as an SEISS notification to trip-up desperate traders eagerly awaiting the latest grant.
What does the email say?
The email with the subject line 'HMRC SEISS Tax Refund Notification' alerts the recipient that claims for the SEISS grant have now opened for application and directs them to “sign in to HMRC online services”.
The window to claim the fourth grant will open in late April. However, the scam email states “the date for submitting application for the Fourth SEISS grant start 22 April 2021 (sic)”.
The message instructs the user to sign in and “follow step 1 of 3 to have your tax refund credit to your bank account”.
The email recipient is then advised to have their “Passport and Driving Licence details to submit this application”.
The self-employed worker is then encouraged to click a “Sign into HMRC online services self assessment” link. The fraudulent email continues: “For Security reason we’ll record (IP Address, Time, Date) Deliberate Wrong input or flooding will be criminally pursued (sic)”.
Aside from the grammatical mistakes, the tell-tale sign that this is a scam is the reference to the grant as a tax refund.
Fourth Grant
The fourth grant covers the period from 1 February 2021 to 30 April 2021 at 80% of trader's average profits. The grant will be open for taxpayers that traded in the tax years 2018/19 to 2020/21. Self-employed workers will have until the window closes on 1 June to make their claim.
The government confirmed at the Budget that in addition to the upcoming fourth grant, there will be a fifth SEISS grant that will be payable for the three months to 31 July 2021 (up to a maximum of £7,500).
The portal for the fifth grant is expected to open in late July 2021.