Scams aimed at conning U.K. taxpayers out of money and credentials are reportedly experiencing shifts in mediums from email to phone and text.
Nothing sounds better to most people than a notification that you’re getting a tax refund (and to “click here to claim it NOW!”). This pretty much sums up the kinds of scams targeting U.K. citizens continually. According to new data released by the U.K.’s tax authority, HRMC, the number of reported phishing scams via phone and text specifically have increased significantly in 2019 over the previous year.
According to the data:
- Text-based scams rose nearly 56% in 2019 over 2018
- Voice-based scams rose 234%
- Email scams were down 60%
It’s interesting to see scammers increase their use of an attack vector other than email. Having said that, the number of email-based scams reported still outpaced reported phone and voice scams combined. This data comes hot on the heels of news of a significant rise in the number of U.K. Pensioners being targeted as well.
To help stop the effectiveness of these scams, HRMC provides citizens with examples of bogus messages to help educate on how to spot suspicious and potentially malicious communications, regardless of medium. This education mirrors the need for Security Awareness Training for corporate users, which helps to educate users on the latest scams, themes, methods of social engineering, and targeting – all in an effort to elevate their state of vigilance when interacting with email and the web.
