Bogus HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) texts and e-mails are one of the most common phishing scams around at the moment. In the last 12 months more than one million such scams were reported by members of the public. Over half of these were claiming to offer tax rebates and asked for personal details in order to claim a refund.

HMRC have highlighted that if anyone is genuinely owed a tax rebate, HMRC will only contact them by post or through their employer, never by text, e-mail or phone.