In the past year, almost 1 million people reported scams to HMRC. Photo: GettyUniversity students doing part-time jobs are at increased risk of falling victim to scams that offer tax refunds or ask them to pay unpaid tax, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.More than 900,000 university students held part time jobs during the 2020/21 academic year. For many, it is their first time being employed. Being new to interacting with HMRC and being unfamiliar with genuine contact from the department makes them particularly vulnerable.“Most students won’t have paid tax before, and so could easily be duped by scam texts, emails or calls either offering a ‘refund’ or demanding unpaid tax,” said Mike Fell, head of cyber security operations at HMRC.In the past year, almost 1 million people reported scams to HMRC and between April and May 2021, more than 5,000 phone scams were reported by 18- to 24-year-olds.In the last year, HMRC has responded to 998,485 referrals of suspicious contact from the public. Nearly half of these offered bogus tax rebates.Read more: Nine ways to spot a tax scam in 2020/2021Scammers are usually trying to steal money or personal information to sell on to others. One way of doing this is including links or files in emails and texts which download dangerous software onto a computer or phone.This can gather personal data or lock the recipient’s machine until they pay a ransom.HMRC has said students will never get an email, text message, message in an application (for example WhatsApp) or a phone call from HMRC which tells them about a tax rebate or penalty and asks for their personal or payment information.Such contact should be reported to the department’s phishing team. A suspicious text message should be forwarded to 60599 while emails and screenshots can be sent to [email protected] can also contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.If students have already given up their personal information by mistake, they should send an email to [email protected] more: FCA issues fresh warning on ‘pump and dump’ crypto scamsStory continuesThis should not include the actual information, but rather a description of what they disclosed, for example name, address or HMRC User ID.Earlier this year, HMRC’s CEO Jim Harra said even he had received a scam call from fraudsters pretending to be from the department, amid a spike in people being bombarded with bogus messages.

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In the past year, almost 1 million people reported scams to HMRC. Photo: GettyUniversity students doing part-time jobs are at increased risk of falling victim to scams that offer tax refunds or ask them to pay unpaid tax, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.More than 900,000 university students held part time jobs during the 2020/21 academic year. For many, it is their first time being employed. Being new to interacting with HMRC and being unfamiliar with genuine contact from the department makes them particularly vulnerable.“Most students won’t have paid tax before, and so could easily be duped by scam texts, emails or calls either offering a ‘refund’ or demanding unpaid tax,” said Mike Fell, head of cyber security operations at HMRC.In the past year, almost 1 million people reported scams to HMRC and between April and May 2021, more than 5,000 phone scams were reported by 18- to 24-year-olds.In the last year, HMRC has responded to 998,485 referrals of suspicious contact from the public. Nearly half of these offered bogus tax rebates.Read more: Nine ways to spot a tax scam in 2020/2021Scammers are usually trying to steal money or personal information to sell on to others. One way of doing this is including links or files in emails and texts which download dangerous software onto a computer or phone.This can gather personal data or lock the recipient’s machine until they pay a ransom.HMRC has said students will never get an email, text message, message in an application (for example WhatsApp) or a phone call from HMRC which tells them about a tax rebate or penalty and asks for their personal or payment information.Such contact should be reported to the department’s phishing team. A suspicious text message should be forwarded to 60599 while emails and screenshots can be sent to [email protected] can also contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.If students have already given up their personal information by mistake, they should send an email to [email protected] more: FCA issues fresh warning on ‘pump and dump’ crypto scamsStory continuesThis should not include the actual information, but rather a description of what they disclosed, for example name, address or HMRC User ID.Earlier this year, HMRC’s CEO Jim Harra said even he had received a scam call from fraudsters pretending to be from the department, amid a spike in people being bombarded with bogus messages.

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Charles Randell, chair of the U.K.

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Charles Randell, chair of the U.K.

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Charles Randell, chair of the U.K.

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Charles Randell, chair of the U.K.

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Charles Randell, chair of the U.K.

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Kim Kardashian has been criticised for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on Instagram, by the head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Charles Randell said Ms Kardashian had “asked her 250 million followers to speculate on crypto tokens” by promoting an advert for Ethereum Max.
He called it “a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers”.
And he accused influencers of fuelling the “delusions of quick riches”.
Mr Randell was speaking to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The FCA chairman said Ms Kardashian’s Instagram post, which he noted had been correctly flagged as an ad, may have been the “financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
The promoted token Ethereum Max was, he stressed, not to be confused with the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
“I can’t say whether this particular token [Ethereum Max] is a scam,” he said.
“But social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation. Some influencers promote coins that turn out simply not to exist at all,” he said.
The BBC has approached Ethereum Max and Ms Kardashian for comment.
Mr Randell said about 2.3 million Britons currently hold cryptocurrency and he said 14% of them also use credit to purchase them – “thereby increasing the exposure to loss”.
He said the FCA had repeatedly warned about the risks of holding “speculative tokens”, which are not regulated by the FCA or covered by any compensation scheme.
“If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money,” he said.
Mr Randell said there was a case for regulation of promotions to address consumers’ misconceptions that their investments were protected – and “the relentless and often misleading advertising techniques of some crypto businesses”.

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Kim Kardashian has been criticised for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on Instagram, by the head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Charles Randell said Ms Kardashian had “asked her 250 million followers to speculate on crypto tokens” by promoting an advert for Ethereum Max.
He called it “a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers”.
And he accused influencers of fuelling the “delusions of quick riches”.
Mr Randell was speaking to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The FCA chairman said Ms Kardashian’s Instagram post, which he noted had been correctly flagged as an ad, may have been the “financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
The promoted token Ethereum Max was, he stressed, not to be confused with the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
“I can’t say whether this particular token [Ethereum Max] is a scam,” he said.
“But social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation. Some influencers promote coins that turn out simply not to exist at all,” he said.
The BBC has approached Ethereum Max and Ms Kardashian for comment.
Mr Randell said about 2.3 million Britons currently hold cryptocurrency and he said 14% of them also use credit to purchase them – “thereby increasing the exposure to loss”.
He said the FCA had repeatedly warned about the risks of holding “speculative tokens”, which are not regulated by the FCA or covered by any compensation scheme.
“If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money,” he said.
Mr Randell said there was a case for regulation of promotions to address consumers’ misconceptions that their investments were protected – and “the relentless and often misleading advertising techniques of some crypto businesses”.

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Kim Kardashian has been criticised for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on Instagram, by the head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Charles Randell said Ms Kardashian had “asked her 250 million followers to speculate on crypto tokens” by promoting an advert for Ethereum Max.
He called it “a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers”.
And he accused influencers of fuelling the “delusions of quick riches”.
Mr Randell was speaking to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The FCA chairman said Ms Kardashian’s Instagram post, which he noted had been correctly flagged as an ad, may have been the “financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
The promoted token Ethereum Max was, he stressed, not to be confused with the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
“I can’t say whether this particular token [Ethereum Max] is a scam,” he said.
“But social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation. Some influencers promote coins that turn out simply not to exist at all,” he said.
The BBC has approached Ethereum Max and Ms Kardashian for comment.
Mr Randell said about 2.3 million Britons currently hold cryptocurrency and he said 14% of them also use credit to purchase them – “thereby increasing the exposure to loss”.
He said the FCA had repeatedly warned about the risks of holding “speculative tokens”, which are not regulated by the FCA or covered by any compensation scheme.
“If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money,” he said.
Mr Randell said there was a case for regulation of promotions to address consumers’ misconceptions that their investments were protected – and “the relentless and often misleading advertising techniques of some crypto businesses”.

[Read More] […]

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Kim Kardashian has been criticised for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on Instagram, by the head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Charles Randell said Ms Kardashian had “asked her 250 million followers to speculate on crypto tokens” by promoting an advert for Ethereum Max.
He called it “a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers”.
And he accused influencers of fuelling the “delusions of quick riches”.
Mr Randell was speaking to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The FCA chairman said Ms Kardashian’s Instagram post, which he noted had been correctly flagged as an ad, may have been the “financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
The promoted token Ethereum Max was, he stressed, not to be confused with the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
“I can’t say whether this particular token [Ethereum Max] is a scam,” he said.
“But social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation. Some influencers promote coins that turn out simply not to exist at all,” he said.
The BBC has approached Ethereum Max and Ms Kardashian for comment.
Mr Randell said about 2.3 million Britons currently hold cryptocurrency and he said 14% of them also use credit to purchase them – “thereby increasing the exposure to loss”.
He said the FCA had repeatedly warned about the risks of holding “speculative tokens”, which are not regulated by the FCA or covered by any compensation scheme.
“If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money,” he said.
Mr Randell said there was a case for regulation of promotions to address consumers’ misconceptions that their investments were protected – and “the relentless and often misleading advertising techniques of some crypto businesses”.

[Read More] […]

Read More…

Kim Kardashian has been criticised for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on Instagram, by the head of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Charles Randell said Ms Kardashian had “asked her 250 million followers to speculate on crypto tokens” by promoting an advert for Ethereum Max.
He called it “a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers”.
And he accused influencers of fuelling the “delusions of quick riches”.
Mr Randell was speaking to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The FCA chairman said Ms Kardashian’s Instagram post, which he noted had been correctly flagged as an ad, may have been the “financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history”.
The promoted token Ethereum Max was, he stressed, not to be confused with the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
“I can’t say whether this particular token [Ethereum Max] is a scam,” he said.
“But social media influencers are routinely paid by scammers to help them pump and dump new tokens on the back of pure speculation. Some influencers promote coins that turn out simply not to exist at all,” he said.
The BBC has approached Ethereum Max and Ms Kardashian for comment.
Mr Randell said about 2.3 million Britons currently hold cryptocurrency and he said 14% of them also use credit to purchase them – “thereby increasing the exposure to loss”.
He said the FCA had repeatedly warned about the risks of holding “speculative tokens”, which are not regulated by the FCA or covered by any compensation scheme.
“If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money,” he said.
Mr Randell said there was a case for regulation of promotions to address consumers’ misconceptions that their investments were protected – and “the relentless and often misleading advertising techniques of some crypto businesses”.

[Read More] […]

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Regulators are worried about all the people plugging cryptocurrencies online. That includes Kim Kardashian, beauty and fashion mogul and influencer extraordinaire.
Charles Randell, chair of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, called out Kardashian in a colorful speech Monday.

He started out by suggesting that the internet was full of … excrement.
“The Augean stables hadn’t been cleaned for 30 years when Hercules was set the labor of cleaning them. For 30 years, 3,000 animals had been doing in those stables what 3,000 animals have to do,” Randell said. “The first website was published 30 years ago last month. And like the Augean stables, over the last 30 years the internet has filled up with a great deal of … well, let’s just call it ‘problematic content.’”
He then trained his attention on Kardashian, who, he noted, recently plugged “Ethereum Max” to 250 million Instagram followers.
“In line with Instagram’s rules, she disclosed that this was an #AD,” Randell said. “But she didn’t have to disclose that Ethereum Max — not to be confused with ethereum — was a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers, one of hundreds of such tokens that fill the crypto-exchanges.”
Randell acknowledged that he can’t say whether this particular token is a scam. But he emphasized that regulators needed to do more to rein in this type of online activity. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, he said, also need to “step up.”
“The hype around [cryptocurrencies] generates a powerful fear of missing out from some consumers who may have little understanding of their risks,” Randell said.
For prospective consumers, he also had a clear reminder: Crypto investments are a huge gamble.
“These tokens are not regulated by the FCA,” Randell said. “If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money.”
A record run-up in crypto prices earlier this year brought hundreds of thousands of new investors into the fold. The FCA now estimates that 2.3 million Britons are cryptocurrency holders, up from 1.9 million in 2020.
But regulators remain concerned about massive volatility and fraud, and are debating whether they should have a bigger role in monitoring the industry. Gary Gensler, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has also called for greater investor protections in recent speeches.
“This asset class has been rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications,” Gensler told the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs earlier this month.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Regulators are worried about all the people plugging cryptocurrencies online. That includes Kim Kardashian, beauty and fashion mogul and influencer extraordinaire.
Charles Randell, chair of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, called out Kardashian in a colorful speech Monday.

He started out by suggesting that the internet was full of … excrement.
“The Augean stables hadn’t been cleaned for 30 years when Hercules was set the labor of cleaning them. For 30 years, 3,000 animals had been doing in those stables what 3,000 animals have to do,” Randell said. “The first website was published 30 years ago last month. And like the Augean stables, over the last 30 years the internet has filled up with a great deal of … well, let’s just call it ‘problematic content.’”
He then trained his attention on Kardashian, who, he noted, recently plugged “Ethereum Max” to 250 million Instagram followers.
“In line with Instagram’s rules, she disclosed that this was an #AD,” Randell said. “But she didn’t have to disclose that Ethereum Max — not to be confused with ethereum — was a speculative digital token created a month before by unknown developers, one of hundreds of such tokens that fill the crypto-exchanges.”
Randell acknowledged that he can’t say whether this particular token is a scam. But he emphasized that regulators needed to do more to rein in this type of online activity. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, he said, also need to “step up.”
“The hype around [cryptocurrencies] generates a powerful fear of missing out from some consumers who may have little understanding of their risks,” Randell said.
For prospective consumers, he also had a clear reminder: Crypto investments are a huge gamble.
“These tokens are not regulated by the FCA,” Randell said. “If you buy them, you should be prepared to lose all your money.”
A record run-up in crypto prices earlier this year brought hundreds of thousands of new investors into the fold. The FCA now estimates that 2.3 million Britons are cryptocurrency holders, up from 1.9 million in 2020.
But regulators remain concerned about massive volatility and fraud, and are debating whether they should have a bigger role in monitoring the industry. Gary Gensler, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has also called for greater investor protections in recent speeches.
“This asset class has been rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications,” Gensler told the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs earlier this month.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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