HMRC Scam?

omnipeta

I've received an e mail from 'noreply@tax.service.gov.uk'  saying ' 'You have a tax code change' and asking me to log on to Gov.uk website to check my tax code, is this a scam?

pbartlett

yes it is...

debitcardmayhem

or could report it

grumpycrab

omnipeta said:

I've received an e mail from 'noreply@tax.service.gov.uk'  saying ' 'You have a tax code change' and asking me to log on to Gov.uk website to check my tax code, is this a scam?

But did they not offer you a link to get you to the Gov.uk website?  Bit pointless (scam) if they didn't give you a (scam) link to click.

MattMattMattUK

You could log into your tax account and check, using a safe URL, not the one in the email.

[Deleted User]

omnipeta said:

I've received an e mail from 'noreply@tax.service.gov.uk'  saying ' 'You have a tax code change' and asking me to log on to Gov.uk website to check my tax code, is this a scam?

The genuine ones from the HMRC have no link in the email to click, you have to go through your favourite search engine which will take you to the following link.

https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services

Here is one I received, it was genuine, tax code had changed.

chrisw

I don't think it's a scam, I had one recently. I think they tweak the tax codes before the financial year end.

Regardless, do as suggested above and log on to the HMRC website directly.

macman

Nothing to indicate that that is a  scam at all, you've opted in to receive notifications by email rather than letter. 

JohnB47

It's good that HMRC don't include links in emails. I've been pestering my bank to do likewise for years. One time they said a particular link was ok because it didn't take you to a site asking for personal details but when I used it, that site had a link to one that did. 

Sandtree

pbartlett said:

yes it is...

How can it be a scam if there is no link to click and it simply tells you to go to the gov.uk website?

Who an email professes to come from is irrelevant, anyone can send an email appearing to come from any email address that takes their fancy. Decent spam filtering software will block those coming from the wrong server but even those arent infallible.  The trick of knowing if an email is a scam or not 99% of the time is looking, but not clicking on, any links and where they go but it takes a small level of knowledge of how website addresses are formed. I say 99% because occasionally genuine emails do come out with links to unexpected domains... I had one not long ago from Guys Hospital linking to a commercial website which they did confirm was genuine. 

You can opt in to receive HMRC updates by email rather than letter, as others have mentioned HMRC simply tell you to go to their website but don't provide links... whilst well intentioned this does open people up to clicking on paid adverts that may appear above the genuine website when the person goes on to search for the website so a bit of swings and roundabouts.

Neil49

It's genuine. 

I have a dedicated email address for my bank account and hmrc and it arrived into that address. At the foot of the message it states there are no links for security reasons which is correct. 

Finally, when I logged into my account I eventually found the tax code section and, yes, my code had changed for the next tax year.

If you haven't already got it set up you should enable a second level of sign in security whereby HMRC send you an authentication code to your phone which is required to complete the login process.