£47 million was stolen by cybercriminals in a series of phishing attacks on HMRC where cybercriminals posed as taxpayers to claim repayments.
HMRC were slow to report the incident.
A Treasury Select Committee hearing yesterday heard how the accounts of an estimated 100,000 UK taxpayers were targeted in a series of phishing attacks last year.
The attacks have resulted in a loss of £47 million to date which HMRC’s deputy chief executive Angela MacDonald described during the hearing as “a lot of money.”
HMRC also issued guidance to taxpayers stating its security systems detected unauthorised access to some customers’ online accounts. It subsequently informs taxpayers that those affected will receive a letter from HMRC over the next three to four weeks.