Press release —
Seven arrested in international cybercrime tax probe
- Seven people have been arrested in Romania on suspicion of tax repayment fraud, linked to the phishing theft of data from UK tax professionals
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) joined Romanian National Police who led raids across Romania today
- Investigators have linked fraudulent tax repayment claims in the UK to attacks on tax authorities in Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Seven people have been arrested in Romania on suspicion of accessing computers and stealing data from UK tax professionals in order to make fraudulent tax repayment claims.
The six men and one woman, all Romanian nationals, were arrested earlier today in a joint HMRC operation led by the Romanian National Police’s Economic Crimes Directorate, with support from the Crown Prosecution Service. Twenty-one properties were also searched across Romania.
The seven, aged between 32 and 47 and from Oradea, Craiova, Pitești and Bucharest, are suspected of mounting sophisticated phishing attacks against UK-based tax professionals in order to steal their client data. This was used to submit fraudulent tax repayment claims to HMRC.
Today’s arrests are related to an attempted fraud against HMRC of almost £200m. The overwhelming majority of the suspected fraudulent claims were detected and blocked by HMRC systems.
The collaboration between Romanian authorities and HMRC, coordinated by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) has also identified a wider organised crime network suspected of attacking tax authorities in Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
Simon Grunwell, Operational Lead in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:
“Our cybercrime teams work across borders to combat tax theft in all its forms, and this operation is another successful collaboration with our international partners in Romania.
“HMRC has acted to protect customer data and support tax accountants to better protect themselves from this type of attack. We encourage any business which has concerns to contact us. Suspicious activity happening in an HMRC account can be reported online.
“Our investigations are ongoing and we continue to work with other law enforcement agencies both in the UK and overseas to bring those responsible to justice.”
Footage of the arrest operation in Romania can be viewed here
Anyone with information about any type of tax fraud can report it online.
No UK taxpayer has suffered any direct loss as a result of these attacks.
Notes to Editors
1. We are unable to provide any more detail about today’s arrest operations.
- Seven people were arrested in the Romanian cities of Craiova, Oradea, Pitești and Bucharest on suspicion of unauthorised access to a computer system, provided by Article 360 of the Criminal Code;
- Computer fraud, provided by Article 249 of the Criminal Code;
Money laundering, provided by Article 49 para. 1 point a) of Law No. 129/2019.
2. A joint investigation team, supported by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) has been established between Romanian and UK authorities, bringing together the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of Appeal in Bucharest, HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This international partnership enables the swift investigation of serious cross-border crimes by pooling resources, expertise, and intelligence across jurisdictions.
- Criminals are cunning - protect your information
- Take a moment to think before parting with your money or information
- Use strong and different passwords on all your accounts so criminals are less able to target you
- If a phone call, text or email is suspicious or unexpected, don’t give out private information or reply, and don’t download attachments or click on links
- Check on GOV.UK that the contact is genuinely from HMRC
- Do not trust caller ID on phones. Numbers can be spoofed
- If you’re unsure about a text claiming to be from HMRC forward it to 60599, or an email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Report a tax scam phone call on GOV.UK
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Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is the UK’s tax authority.
HMRC is responsible for making sure that the money is available to fund the UK’s public services and for helping families and individuals with targeted financial support.
