Fake email????

MARZ12
MARZ12 Posts: 3 Newbie
in Cutting tax
following received but not sure if fake

Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2016 11:06:11 +0000

From: noreply@tax.service.gov.uk
Subject: Your Income Tax estimate has changed

GOV.UK GOV.UK
HMRC Logo
HM Revenue & Customs

Income Tax estimates


Your Income Tax estimate has changed.

Sign in to the 'Check your Income Tax' service to see your new estimated taxable income, income tax and tax code.

A link isn't included for security reasons.

Why you got this email

You chose to receive email notifications about your Income Tax.

We have started to send you these emails when your Income Tax estimate has changed.

From HMRC Check your Income Tax service

To manage your paperless notifications - sign in to your HMRC online account.
If you are unsure an email is from HMRC:
Do not reply to it or click on any links
Forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
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Comments

  • TadleyBaggie
    TadleyBaggie Posts: 6,047 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    MARZ12 wrote: »
    You chose to receive email notifications about your Income Tax.
    Well did you?

    If there are no links and it just instructs you to go to the official HMRC site, then it either a real HMRC email or the worst phishing email ever.
  • MARZ12
    MARZ12 Posts: 3 Newbie
    I have now phoned HMRC and said it was fake.

    BTW I come from Tadley.
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    It seems a bit of a pointless effort but as TadlegBaggie says if you didn't ask HMRC to email you then they won't, so it's an obvious fake. In fact HMRC send very few emails so even if you gad asked them to email you it could easily still be a fake.
  • kimplus8
    kimplus8 Posts: 968 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    I do t see what the sender has gained from this at all. It tells you to go to Harv website and contains no links- must be the worst phishing email ever!
    Saving for a house in 2025 LISA £7726/£15000 Emergency Fund £1000/£6000 No spend Year 2023
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,547 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 27 July 2016 at 10:16PM
    Whats the senders details in the header?

    I use Thunderbird for my email and one pet hate was it only showed the senders ID which could be changed easily. I installed an addon to see the actual senders address. Yep that can still be faked but many lazy spammers dont.

    Correct email address and no clickable links then i think its probably real.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • The_Goose
    The_Goose Posts: 44 Forumite
    I have just had one of these emails, headed "You have a tax code change."

    No clickable links, apparently correct email address for the sender (noreply@tax.service.gov.uk) and telling me I have a tax code change and to sign in using Government Gateway and check my details.

    Well I've signed in, I've got no messages, there's nothing about a tax code change. I've looked everywhere.

    I phoned HMRC up and after an extremely long wait got through to somebody who said it must be a phishing email as they haven't sent anything out.

    Most bizarre. What's the point? Except it's just wasted a whole load of my time whilst I searched through the website :(:(:(
  • ChuckMountain
    ChuckMountain Posts: 194 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    I think this is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

    I suspect its a case of HMRC call handlers not being aware of these emails as they don't relate to a specific message on your online account and therefore in the absence of anything else will "confirm" them as phishing.

    However looking at the contents of the email and its headers, there is nothing in there to suggest it is trying to point people at another site. All image links point back to HRMC, there is one identifier image link and the headers all point to HMRC or mailgun.

    As others have put its a very bad attempt at a phishing email as there is no bait ....

    I had the email on the 14th Feb and I thought I had a minor change on my numbers, but given there is no history of changes or message can't prove that now. It may be an accidental release by a developer but I don't think its fake.
  • The_Goose
    The_Goose Posts: 44 Forumite
    Yes, thanks, I think that must be right.
  • leohornbill
    leohornbill Posts: 3 Newbie
    I have just had exactly the same email and am equally mystified by the lack of the usual link. However, it does not ring true as I recently did a self assessment and nothing has changed.


    Having Googled it there seem to be quite a few websites that purport to check your tax, not all HMRC, and I suspect they are hoping a proportion of people following up the instruction to check their tax will use a fake HMRC website and divulge all their personal details once they do so.


    It raises the question as to how you can ever be assured that a website you are logging on to is genuine? The scammers are getting cleverer at faking this all the time.
  • ChuckMountain
    ChuckMountain Posts: 194 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Did you check the headers of the email to see the origins?

    Mine was from HMRC and I don't notice any obvious changes or messages.

    The fake HMRC websites generally do a tax submission on your behalf by becoming your agent and then taking their extortion cut.
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