REVENUE HAS SAID it has written to approximately 3,000 taxpayers to tell them they may have had their personal details accessed by fraudsters.

This will have been caused by the individuals unwittingly providing information that would allow fraudsters to access details held in the user profile of their MyAccount.

This particular scam involved fake messages – purporting to come from Revenue – which link to a fraudulent website which seeks personal information from taxpayers.

Revenue said it never sends text messages requiring people to provide personal information via links, pop-up windows, reply text or email.

“Following an investigation by Revenue’s IT Department into this latest scam, we are contacting approximately 3,000 taxpayers to make them aware of our concerns that their personal details may have been accessed, the possible serious implications for them and to set out some practical things they can do to minimise the extent of any fraud perpetrated against them,” Revenue’s chief information officer John Barron said. 

According to Barron, the security of Revenue’s systems was not compromised “in any way” through the scam.

He said: “However, the nature of this particular type of scam has led to some taxpayers unwittingly compromising the security of their personal myAccount profile details by providing information such as their PPSN, Date of Birth and myAccount password to fraudsters.

This occurred after the taxpayer clicked on a link, in a text sent by fraudsters, which purported to be the Revenue ‘MyAccount’ log-in screen.

Barron said that once people unwittingly give these details, the fraudsters may then have been able to obtain bank details where these are recorded with Revenue. 

Anyone who has fallen victim to this scam will have their MyAccount temporarily suspended with the letter due to arrive from Revenue advising them of the next steps to take. 

He added that Revenue never seeks personal information over a text and anyone who receives such a message purporting to be from Revenue should delete it immediately.