HMRC reveals cyber criminals accessed up to 100,000 customer accounts in major tax fraud attempt
HM Revenue and Customs said it had locked down accounts after an attempt to fake PAYE rebate claims was picked up by its fraud team.
Facing MPs HMRC 's chief executive JP Marks said around 100,000 people were affected by an operation mounted by 'organised crime ', though he stressed that they had been trying to take money from the organisation, rather than customers.
But he also revealed that it happened six months ago in December last year, and several arrests had already been made.
HMRC sent out a notification to customers today, saying they did not need to take any action.
Mr Marks told MPs on the Treasury Committee this afternoon: 'It's about 0.2 per cent of the PAYE population so around 100,000 people who we have written to or are writing to, to notify them that we detected activity on their PAYE account.
'To be clear there has been no financial loss to those individuals, this was organised crime fishing for identity data, outwith of HMRC systems, stuff that banks and other people will unfortunately experience, and then using that data to try to create PAYE accounts to pay themselves a repayment and or access an existing account.
There has been a criminal investigation, some arrests were made last year and a lot of work then done to intercept this incident.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Anthony Joshua teases surprise move into another sport amid Jake Paul showdown talks
Anthony Joshua has taken to social media to make a plea to Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn over a business venture in a different sport. Since turning professional in 2013 Joshua has been attached to the Matchroom banner, a partnership that led to two-time world champion status for the 2012 Olympic gold medallist. Currently sidelined as he recovers from elbow surgery he underwent earlier this year, Joshua appears to be brainstorming ideas for life after boxing, suggesting to Hearn that they tackle football agency together. He posted on his Instagram story: 'Eddie Hearn, the family has conquered darts, snooker, pool, boxing, fishing, golf, owning a football club & you've had a presence in basketball, netball & gymnastics. 'I believe 'we' could look at the football agency industry and have a strong presence. 'Imagine we help manager the player who helped England win the World Cup. 'Call me tomorrow mate.' Eddie Hearn's father, founder of Matchroom Barry Hearn, owned English Football League club Leyton Orient for the best part of two decades, but that is the limit of the family's direct involvement in the sport. However, Matchroom's success across a variety of sports would give them instant authority in the world of football. There has been some overlap with football agencies and promotions in the past, with one of the biggest companies in soccer, Wasserman, buying Team Sauerland and creating Wasserman Boxing in 2021. In May, Joshua confirmed that he was exploring the possibility of buying shares in hometown football club Watford. The Hornets have bounced between the Premier League and Championship over the past 20 years, but whilst Joshua is fond of the club, it appeared to be more of a financial decision. He told Seconds Out: "We wanted to move into private equity, venture capital funds. As you earn, naturally, you want to save. "So rather than me spending recklessly I'm trying to invest money into certain asset classes and that was an opportunity that presented itself. 'Nothing's come of it yet. It's a serious investment. If it comes off it's one that should do well. 'If they went back to the Premier League, then I'd need to get a shop on Market Street because the traffic that would be coming through Watford would be phenomenal. 'If we don't do it then good luck to them anyway because they're a great team." Speculation has surrounded Joshua in recent days, with rumours about his next opponent. Latest Queensberry recruit Tony Yoka is one mooted option, but Jake Paul's camp have claimed that talks with Matchroom have started regarding a potential bout between their fighter and Joshua. DAZN Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. A subscription includes weekly magazine shows, comprehensive fight library, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and podcasts and vodcasts.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Could this be the way Starmer placates his revolting MPs?
Keir cannot afford another fiasco like welfare,' one Starmer loyalist told me, recalling the government's humiliating climbdown on proposed cuts to disability benefits after a revolt by Labour MPs. The prime minister knows the episode showed that his way of governing is unsustainable. He is consulting people widely this summer about how to turn things round. There's a fierce internal debate taking place. In Keir Starmer's right ear, Morgan McSweeney, his influential chief of staff, tells him to focus on wooing back voters in the red wall from Nigel Farage. In his left ear, soft-left cabinet ministers urge a more progressive approach to woo centre-left voters who have deserted Labour for the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. They argue that these lost voters outnumber defectors to Reform by a margin of three to one. The soft left's allies in Downing Street want Starmer to emulate Bill Clinton, who fought back against a right-wing populist – Newt Gingrich, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives – after a rocky start to his first term in 1993. One minister admitted: 'There is a battle over the direction of the government. There is only one person who can resolve it. Keir has got to decide for himself – based on his values, who he is, who he wants to be.' The left-ear whisperers want the PM to trust the instincts that are serving him well on foreign affairs and apply them to the domestic agenda, too. Starmer appeared to be tacking leftwards when he told Tom Baldwin for the paperback version of his biography, published on Thursday: 'We have to be the progressives fighting against the populists of Reform – yes, Labour has to be a progressive party.' He has hinted that he wants to tackle child poverty by scrapping the two-child benefit limit. The PM has nodded to Labour critics who argue – persuasively – that his government has sometimes acted left but talked right, and that it's no wonder, therefore, that it gets little credit from progressive voters. He said that issues such as clean energy, nationalising the railways and increasing the national minimum wage should be shouted louder from the rooftops. 'We should show we're proud of all that,' he told Baldwin. Starmer views this as part of 'telling a better story'. But you can only tell one if you know the direction in which you are heading. The battle isn't over yet; I'm told McSweeney is not convinced about a shift to the left. His critics say the shortcomings of attacking Reform head-on were illustrated when the science secretary Peter Kyle claimed Farage was on the paedophile Jimmy Savile's side in the heated debate over internet regulation. The attack line was reportedly approved by No 10, but it backfired. It was the sort of smear we might expect from Reform. The lesson for Starmer: Labour can't 'out-Farage Farage', and the public will vote for the real thing if Labour tries to look like Reform-lite. Allies of McSweeney believe the red wall will decide the next general election, so Labour's primary pitch must be to the white working class. His internal opponents insist that trying to re-run the 2024 election triumph, McSweeney's greatest hit, will not work next time. They dispute the idea that Labour 'won' the north and the Midlands last year, saying that it reaped the benefit of a split on the right between the Conservatives and Reform, and that Labour regained seats seized by the Tories in 2019 mainly because Tory voters switched to Reform. At the next election, Farage will likely hoover up the right-wing vote. Crucially, the left vote will be split this time – inflicting deep damage to Labour unless Starmer can appeal to left-of-centre voters. He won't do that by tacking right, cutting benefits for the disabled and pensioners or aping Farage. For Starmer to win a presidential contest against the Reform leader, being the anti-Farage candidate will not be enough: he will have to offer progressive voters more than he has offered them so far. Another reason why Starmer should listen to the buzz in his left ear is that the new socialist party launched by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana will present another alternative to disenchanted Labour voters. It already has 600,000 registered supporters. Starmer won't lurch to the Corbyn hard left – and rightly so. But the sensible decision he should make this summer is that it's time for Labour to live up to its name and its values, and stop pretending to be something it is not.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer needs to listen to us, says Labour MP who quit government over welfare cuts
Sir Keir Starmer needs to listen to his own MPs, an ex-Labour frontbencher who quit her role over plans to slash benefits has said. Vicky Foxcroft, who dramatically quit as a government whip in June, said ministers need to 'properly engage' with Labour backbenchers after a massive rebellion forced the government to abandon key aspects of its benefits reforms. Ms Foxcroft said she was 'really concerned' about the negative impact the proposals – which were later abandoned – would have on disabled people. 'There was some quite bad cuts to disabled people's benefits suggested, particularly around Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and having to have four points before you would be able to access the benefit. 'And I was just really concerned about that. And, you know, at that point, I didn't feel that I could support it and didn't feel that I could go out and whip for it and get other MPs to do the same', Ms Foxcroft told GB News ' Gloria De Piero. She said she had 'sleepless nights' in the lead-up to her decision to resign, saying it was 'really difficult and I really would rather not have had to do that'. 'I was actually having a hard personal time at that time as well, with my dad passing away quite suddenly. And so, you know, I had the stress of all of that, but also I was really worried about these proposals, and I really spoke to lots of people about what my concerns were around it. 'I had some sleepless nights, it plays on your mind the whole time', the MP for Lewisham North added. Asked what the government could do differently next time, she said: 'I think it's really important to listen to MPs. MPs are out in their constituencies. They're meeting with people. You know, when they're raising concerns it is coming from what people are worried about. 'It's really important that that engagement takes place in the future. And properly takes place.' But Ms Foxcroft also insisted that the government can turn around its fortunes, despite a poor performance in the polls, with Reform UK surging ahead. 'We've got quite a few years until a general election, and we are doing a lot of good things in Parliament, the Renters' Rights Bill, the Employment Rights Bill, the Football Governance Bill, but at the moment, some of this stuff is just bills in parliament. 'What we need is people to really feel the difference actually, genuinely in their lives.' It comes amid growing concern over the direction of Sir Keir's government from voters on both the left and the right, with the prime minister's approval rating hitting an all time low earlier this month. His support among the public reached new depths of minus 43 after the £5bn welfare U-turn, according to polling published last month. The survey, first reported by The Sunday Times, also found that just a year after coming to power, seven in 10 voters think Sir Keir's government is at least as chaotic as the Tories' previous term.
