Armed police in Romania carry out raids linked to UK tax scam

Romanian police have targeted a gang suspected of being behind a complex scam in which stolen data was used to fraudulently claim millions in tax repayments from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), police have said.

Thirteen people were detained during armed raids around Bucharest, and luxury cars and piles of cash were seized. A fourteenth man was arrested in Preston.

According to HMRC, scammers gained access to the personal data of British taxpayers through a sophisticated phishing operation, which was used to make bogus claims for tax refunds.

HMRC said “millions” was believed to have been stolen without specifying an amount, while Romanian police said over £1m had been taken.

A joint operation between HMRC and Romanian police saw male and female suspects, aged between 23 and 53, arrested during the armed raids.

They were held on suspicion of computer fraud, money laundering and illegal access to a computer system.

A 38-year-old man was arrested in Preston on Thursday. His electronic devices were seized and he was questioned by HMRC officers.

In footage published by Romanian authorities on Thursday, armed police officers were seen searching a large property, where jewellery and large quantities of cash were found.

A joint investigation team – composed of Romanian prosecutors, HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service – was established earlier this year.

HMRC said the organised gang had used stolen data to submit fraudulent claims for PAYE, child benefit and VAT refunds.

It is unclear how many people had their information stolen, but HMRC said it had contacted “around 100,000” customers to inform them they had detected attempts to access their accounts.

Romanian police said scammers accessed the Government Gateway accounts of over 1000 UK taxpayers, and then laundered the stolen funds.

The scammers tricked people into disclosing their security information using various methods, and HMRC stressed that its systems had not been subject to a cyber-attack.

Phishing scams involving HMRC in common: in 2022, the National Cyber Security Centre found it was the government body third most likely to be impersonated by criminals trying to obtain information.

Additional reporting by Mircea Barbu.