UK tax authority reveals scammers stole £47 million

Scammers managed to steal £47 million ($63 million) from the British tax authority last year after falsely claiming rebates from that were due to ordinary members of the public.

MPs were told on Wednesday that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was contacting approximately 100,000 taxpayers whose accounts had been impacted by the scam. The individuals will receive a letter within the next three weeks.

The owners of compromised accounts would not experience any financial loss as a result of the scam, according to HMRC’s chief executive, John-Paul Marks, however their accounts have been locked down.

Marks told Parliament’s Treasury committee that HMRC itself had not been compromised, but suggested that phishing attacks or potential infostealer infections had enabled the attackers to create or hijack online accounts.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s deputy chief, said the criminals had managed to extract £47 million in payments but said in general the agency had managed to protect £1.9 billion ($2.5 billion) that a range of scammers had attempted to steal.

A spokesperson for HMTC stressed the incident “was not a cyberattack” and that “it involved criminals using personal information from phishing activity or data obtained elsewhere to try to claim money from HMRC.”

BBC News reported that a criminal investigation is underway and arrests were made last year.