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HMRC Scam Calls, Texts and Emails: How to Check a Contact Is Genuine and Where to Report It

Few names are as useful to a fraudster as HMRC. A message about an unpaid tax bill causes alarm, and a tax refund offer causes hope, and both can push a person to act before checking. HM Revenue and Customs publishes detailed guidance on how to tell a genuine contact from a scam, and this article summarises it. HMRC is a UK-wide body, so the checks apply throughout the UK; the reporting route for lost money differs in Scotland, as noted below.

The first checks

HMRC’s guidance “Identify tax scam phone calls, emails and text messages”, last updated on 15 December 2025, offers a checklist that works for calls, emails and texts. A contact could be a scam if it:

  • rushes you;
  • is threatening;
  • is unexpected;
  • asks for personal information such as bank details;
  • tells you to transfer money;
  • offers a refund, tax rebate or grant.

Any one of these is a prompt to stop and check before responding, and several together are a stronger warning.

Phone calls

According to HMRC, it will never leave a voicemail threatening legal action, and it will never threaten arrest. HMRC also says it will never ask you to pay with gift or payment vouchers. Not every automated call is a scam, however. HMRC’s page of genuine phone contacts, last updated on 30 June 2026, lists legitimate examples. These include voice prompts sent to some customers who are behind with payments, which explain what to do and give details for paying HMRC or a helpline number without asking for personal or financial information. It also lists a missed call or voicemail that may come from 0300 200 3884, a number it says is not for general enquiries; if HMRC makes contact, it says it will never ask for personal or financial information during the call. A separate entry says that from 29 June 2026 up to and including 31 December 2026, HMRC’s Pensions Programme may phone pension scheme administrators who have not yet migrated their schemes to the Managing Pension Schemes service, and will not ask for personal financial information.

Text messages

HMRC does send texts to some customers. The guidance says such a text might include a link to GOV.UK information or to HMRC webchat. It advises against opening links in, or replying to, a text claiming to be from HMRC that offers a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details. To help HMRC fight phishing, suspicious texts can be forwarded to 60599 (network charges apply), or emailed to [email protected], and then deleted.

Emails

HMRC’s report page, updated on 24 November 2025, says HMRC will only ever email about a tax rebate, or ask for personal or payment information, from an email address ending hmrc.gov.uk. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to [email protected] and then deleted. HMRC also maintains a list of genuine emails it has recently sent, so that a message can be compared against it. The guidance covers QR codes as well: HMRC uses them in letters and correspondence, and they will usually lead to guidance on GOV.UK. It says it will say so if a QR code goes anywhere else, and that a QR code will never lead to a page where personal information must be entered.

WhatsApp and social media

HMRC says people who have subscribed to the UK Government Channel on WhatsApp may receive occasional tax-related reminders, which are single-message alerts that cannot be replied to. It will not communicate with anyone via WhatsApp for any other reason. On social media, the report page says HMRC never uses it to offer a tax rebate or request personal or financial information, and it asks for details of suspicious accounts to be emailed to [email protected].

Reporting

HMRC provides an online service for reporting a suspicious phone call, for which an email address or sign-in is needed. Reporting suspicious contact also lets HMRC share details with other organisations to close down scams, according to the report page. If personal information has already been disclosed, the disclosure can be reported to HMRC’s security team. If money has been lost, HMRC’s guidance says to report it to Report Fraud, or, in Scotland, to Police Scotland on 101. The guidance notes that Report Fraud is the new name for Action Fraud, following an update in December 2025.

A simple routine

  1. Do not click links, call back numbers in the message or reply.
  2. Check the contact against HMRC’s list of genuine contacts, using GOV.UK.
  3. Forward it to the correct HMRC address or number, then delete it.
  4. If you have shared details or paid, report it as above and tell your bank without delay.

Frequently asked questions

Will HMRC ever call me?

Yes. HMRC lists genuine phone contacts on GOV.UK, so an unexpected call can be compared against that list, and a genuine call will not threaten arrest or ask for gift vouchers.

Can I pay HMRC through a link in a text?

The guidance warns against opening links or replying to texts offering a refund in exchange for personal or financial details. The safer route is to find HMRC through GOV.UK directly.

The bottom line

A rushed, threatening or unexpected contact that asks for personal information or money, or that promises a rebate, should be treated as a possible scam, whatever name it carries. HMRC never threatens arrest, never asks for gift vouchers and does not use WhatsApp beyond its one-way Government channel. Genuine contact can be checked on GOV.UK, and suspicious messages forwarded to the HMRC addresses and number given above.

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