SEISS, or the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, has run throughout the pandemic to help self-employed people who have been impacted. The support method has been released in the form of grants which cover a certain percentage of a self-employed individual’s trading profits. However, as the latest grant has been released for SEISS, there is a warning being issued about a scam currently circulating and looking to attack Britons.
This type of information could be used by criminals to commit identity fraud, and could significantly damage a self-employed person’s finances at an already challenging time.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak shared a warning written by HMRC via his social media channels, to alert people to the dangers of such correspondence.
The message reads: “We’re aware of a scam targeting the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.
“It requests personal information, e.g. from a passport or driving licence to obtain a ‘SEISS tax refund’. This is a scam - delete the message.”
HMRC has provided guidance to help people spot scam correspondence and keep themselves safe from being targeted.
A number of people concurred with the warnings issued by HMRC, and urged people to stay on the lookout via social media.
One company wrote: “Be extra careful as this is a scam email doing the rounds encouraging you to click a link that DOES NOT take you to HMRC!”
Another individual warned: “Beware of this phishing email this morning. Note, SEISS is not a tax refund.”
And a third penned: “Almost fell for a very convincing scam email about HMRC SEISS applications.
“I only got suspicious about the amount of personal info the form was asking for, then noticed the website address looked bogus. Be careful out there folks!”
If someone finds they have already shared personal details, they can report this directly to the HMRC security team.
Indeed, for victims of scams, Action Fraud, the national cybercrime reporting service is also available.
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