HMRC continues to warn taxpayers to be on the lookout for fraudulent phishing emails. The emails typically ask for taxpayers' personal and or financial information such as passwords, credit card or bank account details. The phishing emails often include a link to a bogus website encouraging the recipient to enter their personal details.

As with other fraudulent emails, these are not genuine HMRC messages and should be disregarded. These scams use bogus e-mails and websites to trick taxpayers.

The phishing emails are being sent from all around the world. HMRC has helped close down illegal sites in countries including the United States of America, Russia and Japan, as well as central and eastern Europe. However, the proliferation of these types of emails continues.

Any of our readers who are unsure as to the authenticity of any email purporting to be from HMRC should avoid clicking on any links until satisfied that the email is legitimate.