Criminals access HMRC records of 100,000 taxpayers
The records of up to 100,000 taxpayers have been accessed by organised criminals following an attack on HMRC.
The tax authority is thought to have lost £47 million as a result of the breach last year, with officials telling MPs that 0.2 per cent of PAYE taxpayers with personal accounts were affected – representing about 100,000 people, according to Business and Accountancy Daily.
The raid comes after HMRC pushed millions of workers to file their tax returns online as part of its Making Tax Digital scheme.
Officials told the Treasury committee that the incident was 'not a cyber attack' but instead took the form of multiple phishing attacks 'designed to extract money' from the tax authority, carried out by several organised crime gangs over an extended period last year.
However, on its website, the taxman confirmed it had only just started writing to affected taxpayers, with letters set to arrive between now and June 25.
The news came to light on the same day that HMRC's phone lines were hit by a system outage, which meant only those using the specific phone number in the letters to phishing victims were able to call the organisation.
Those affected have been told they do not need to take any action and HMRC has said it has locked down any accounts impacted by the breach and deleted log-in credentials.
HMRC had told public to beware phishing
Phishing attacks occur when a criminal tricks a victim into disclosing personal details, often by pretending to be a trusted figure such as a police officer or HMRC worker.
HMRC warned the public as recently as January, ahead of the tax return deadline, to be on alert for phishing texts which often included phrases such as 'you have an outstanding tax refund' along with a link to 'claim' it.
HMRC has been repeatedly criticised for rushing to shift customers online. In January this year, MPs on the public accounts committee said the organisation had 'willingly allowed its phone services to fail' to force taxpayers to use the internet.
Average wait times for taxpayers using the telephone helpline jumped to 23 minutes in the first 11 months of 2023-24, according to a National Audit Office report, up from five minutes in 2018-19.
HMRC announced last month that it would no longer process requests for self-assessment refunds over the phone or via webchat due to a rise in suspected fraud.
In the past, the tax authority has formally disciplined staff for failing to protect taxpayer data. HMRC sacked 40 members of staff for breaches of data security and issued written warnings to 95 in 2020-21, according to figures obtained by The Telegraph in 2021.
An HMRC spokesman said on Wednesday: 'We've acted to protect customers after identifying attempts to access a very small minority of tax accounts, and we're working with other law enforcement agencies both in the UK and overseas to bring those responsible to justice.
'This was not a cyber-attack – it involved criminals using personal information from phishing activity or data obtained elsewhere to try to claim money from HMRC.
'We're writing to those customers affected to reassure them we've secured their accounts and that they haven't lost any money.'
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