Genuine or scam? "Welcome to HMRC’s help and support email service" email

vikkiew

It is sent from: HMRC Business Help and Support Emails <no.reply@advice.hmrc.gov.uk> and the links point to hmrc.gov.uk and govdelivery.com

Dear customer,

Welcome to HMRC’s help and support email service

We will send you timely and relevant emails to help and support you, every step of the way

In our emails you can expect reminders about key events in the tax year, including specific help and support for self assessmentif you need to complete a Self Assessment tax return by 31 January. We’ll also signpost you to relevant information from other government departments.

To receive the right information at the right time

You will need to register for one or more of our subscriptions, by going to our Email Updates page, entering your email address and choosing from the list of available topics.

From this page, you can also:

Edit your Subscriber Preferences
Enter a Password using the preference tab – this will make your details secure
Make your experienced more personalised by using the Questions tab to receive more topical information in the future.

By adding our email address to your address book, you will be able to manage spam and identify fake emails easily. If you receive an email that you suspect to be fake, you can check by going to GOV!.UK and searching ‘HMRC phishing’ to find our guidance on recognising genuine HMRC contact, emails, calls or texts.

You can also unsubscribe from this service by using the link at the bottom of our emails.
alison walsh signature

Alison Walsh

Head of Digital Communication Services

00ec25

that is HMRC

once subscribed, they send out general emails about their online webinars/courses/guides and deadlines quite regularly tailored to whatever bits of a tax return relate to your personal circumstances

this is an example of the one they send to landlords:


Dear customer,
Whether you’re a new landlord or just need a refresher, HMRC has a range of support to help you with calculating and reporting your property income and expenses.
UK property income and completing the property section of the tax return
In this extended live webinar, we cover record keeping, allowable expenses including changes to finance costs and simplified expenses for vehicles. We’re also covering the main parts of the UK property section of the online tax return.
You can ask questions in our live webinars using the on-screen text box.
Choose a date and time
If you’ve not joined a webinar (online presentation) before, this guide will tell you what you need to do.
HMRC’s YouTube channel has a range of videos including, ‘Your income from property tax return’ or you can watch our new webinar series on YouTube to find out about:
• Part 1 – Property income receipts
• Part 2 – Property income expenses
• Part 3 – Finance costs for residential properties
• Part 4 – Property income profits and losses
You’ll also find our online guide, 'Letting out property', has lots of useful information and is available to dip in and out of whenever you need it.
Help you can trust from HMRC.

Alison Walsh
Head of Digital Communication Services

On-the-coast

“Once subscribed....”
I am subscribed to government gateway and a few of the tax options, but it’s been at least 11months since I last logged in, and I certainly haven’t subscribed to anything recently - yet I received the same email out of the blue a few days ago as the OP.
It didn’t feel right, but looked mostly harmless so I ignored it.

prowla

As with any mailshot, don't click on any links in it.

vikkiew

On-the-coast wrote: »

“Once subscribed....”
I am subscribed to government gateway and a few of the tax options, but it’s been at least 11months since I last logged in, and I certainly haven’t subscribed to anything recently - yet I received the same email out of the blue a few days ago as the OP.
It didn’t feel right, but looked mostly harmless so I ignored it.

This is precisely why I asked. My circumstances are almost identical to yours and it was very strange receiving such an email out of the blue. It was the "Dear Customer" part which didn't feel right to me, there was no mention anywhere of my name or post code or other unique personal information.

I will just ignore it.

00ec25

vikkiew wrote: »

This is precisely why I asked. My circumstances are almost identical to yours and it was very strange receiving such an email out of the blue. It was the "Dear Customer" part which didn't feel right to me, there was no mention anywhere of my name or post code or other unique personal information.

I will just ignore it.

by all means ignore it if you wish, however as I said it is a genuine e mail from HMRC because they have your email address from when you signed up

they don't use personal info because it is not the sort of email which needs to be personalised. It is merely showing you some HMRC info that you may find useful

as you have already made up your mind there was little point you asking the question

00ec25

On-the-coast wrote: »

“Once subscribed....”
I am subscribed to government gateway and a few of the tax options, but it’s been at least 11months since I last logged in, and I certainly haven’t subscribed to anything recently - yet I received the same email out of the blue a few days ago as the OP.
It didn’t feel right, but looked mostly harmless so I ignored it.

yes, your email is on record because you are registered for SA.
as I said, if you choose to subscribe to the service in the email in question then HMRC will , as it says, send you further emails such as the landlords one I quote above

you are of course free not to subscribe and i doubt you'll miss much if you don't, but it most certainly is a genuine HMRC email

badmemory

It was so illiterate that I just assumed it was a scam! It is also no longer relevant as THEY took me out of SA.


I strongly suspect that it is not only HMRC who may have my email address. However, I never did anything online with them & only filed a paper return, so I'm sticking with scam.

chrismac1

As an accountant, my client base gets lots of scam e-mails and phone calls every month purporting to come from HMRC. Some are very scary indeed, threatening bankruptcy and all that drivel.


So why HMRC send out e-mails which look so much like scam mails just beats me. If a client were to ask me about the above e-mail, I would recommend deleting it and reporting it as Spam to the e-mail provider.


If you can't get your head around how to use e-mail properly, HMRC, don't use it at all.

00ec25

chrismac1 wrote: »

If a client were to ask me about the above e-mail, I would recommend deleting it and reporting it as Spam to the e-mail provider.

your well known contempt for HMRC causes you to be too blinkered at times

badmemory wrote: »

so I'm sticking with scam.

well in this case you would be wrong - not that it matters since all that happens is you get info from HMRC, not a scam

chrismac1

Let me make it easy for you:


"Dear customer,"


No need to read any further, SPAM.