Email scams: Employer Annual Return and Alerts & Registrations

07 February 2014

Be aware that fraudsters are at it again and one of their tricks is to pretend to be HMRC and ask businesses to submit a P35.

Here is an example of the type of email being circulated:

Employer Annual Return

Employers must file their Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) for 2013-14 online to reach us by 29 February 2014. We strongly recommend that you file your return online, as soon as it is ready.

Don’t forget, Extra Statutory Concession B46 came to an end in 2011 so the period of grace no longer applies. To avoid penalties, file your Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) online and file as soon as you can before 19 May 2013.

Please complete all relevant sections of the attached application form and attach the appropriate documents.

Reply to this email as this mailbox is monitored for incoming mail.

HMRC Employer Alerts & Registrations

The other scam that has been reported to us is a request for registration details, an example being:

From: HMRC Employer Alerts & Registrations [mailto:[email protected]]

Subject: HMRC Employer Alerts & Verification

Thank you for your registration details which have been recorded for email alerts purposes only.

We expect to send you three email alerts a year - February, May and December. These will give you the links to the latest Employer Bulletin and HMRC PAYE Tools (previously the Employer CD-ROM).HMRC may also issue other messages throughout the year.

Please complete all relevant sections of the attached application form and attach the appropriate documents to confirm your identity.

Reply to this email as this mailbox is monitored for incoming mail.

As a reminder to help you stay safe online, HMRC recommends the following:

Check the advice published at www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/index.htm where they can see if the email received is listed
Forward suspicious emails to HMRC at [email protected] and then delete it from your computer/mail account
Do not click on websites or links contained in suspicious emails or open attachments
Follow advice from www.getsafeonline.co.uk
Anyone who has answered one of these emails should forward the email and disclosed details to [email protected].

If you have reason to believe that you have been the victim of an email scam, report the matter to your bank/card issuer as soon as possible. If in doubt please check with HMRC at HMRC fraud attempts.