HMRC has warned about a fake social media account set up on social media, imitating its genuine customer service support account.

People often message the authentic ‘@HMRCcustomers’ account to ask questions about their self assesment or other tax issues.

But fraudsters have created a bogus account on social media platform X, with the handle ‘@HMRCcustomrs’ and have been replying to people trying to contact the tax authority, in a ruse to get them to contact the scammers instead.

Scammers often pretend to be genuine organisations to dupe people into handing over their personal or financial details.

The message from the bogus account, which has been sent to several individuals at the time of writing, reads: “Hello , It’s unfortunate for the challenge encountered.

“We would like to closely look at the concern raised. Please, share with us via DM your phone number to allow us probe further.”

The tweet includes a link to send a private message to the fraudsters. HMRC confirmed to Express.co.uk that the account is fake.

A spokesperson said: “Criminals are great pretenders, stopping at nothing to try and dupe citizens – including imitating government departments and other organisations on social media in a bid to appear authentic.

“Our cyber security team continually monitors for scams and our customers should be alert for such deceptions. Our advice is always take your time and check HMRC scams advice on gov.uk.”

The bogus account imitates the HMRC logo and the header photo from the genuine account.

HMRC said they have reported the fake account to X, but it remains active at the time of writing.

HMRC advises that if you get a suspicious phone call, text or email, to not give out any private information and to avoid downloading any attachments or clicking on links.

You can check the Gov.uk website for the genuine contact information for the tax body.

Suspicious messages can also be reported by forwarding them to 60599 or by emailing phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. You can also report a scam through the Gov.uk website.

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