HM Revenue and Customs is warning taxpayers to be on their guard against fraudulent phishing emails.
Some 74,743 scam messages were reported to HMRC's dedicated phishing email account between April and September – a 70% increase on the same period in 2013.
Over the same six-month period, HMRC worked with other law enforcement agencies to help close down more than 4,000 websites responsible for sending out the emails.
The emails promised a tax refund, and often asked for a recipient's name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details – including passwords and their mother's maiden name. Once the victim has provided the information, money has been stolen from their bank account and their details get sold on to other criminal gangs, which can lead to identity theft.

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Steve Singh, deputy head of operations, HMRC Digital Security, said: "HMRC never contacts customers who are due a tax refund by email – we always send a letter through the post.
"If you receive an email which claims to be from HMRC, and which offers you a tax refund, we recommend you send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and then permanently delete it.
"We can, and do, close these websites down and we continue our efforts to work with law enforcement agencies around the world to bring down the criminals behind these scams."

HMRC advised checking its website for more details on online security advice and to forward suspicious emails to HMRC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and then delete them.