Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-13.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of websites using the HM Revenue and Customs logo without permission and (b) how many people have paid to use them; and what steps he is taking to identify and proceed against such websites.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a dedicated Customer Protection Team, within its Cyber Security capability, who proactively seek out websites abusing their brand. Such websites fall into two categories: fraudulent websites that seek to dupe unsuspecting customers into divulging personal information and websites which inappropriately use the HMRC brand and/or logo in order to purvey an affiliation with HMRC when offering services to customers.
HMRC’s Customer Protection Team has taken down over 15,000 fraudulent websites in the last year and taken successful action against 130 websites inappropriately using the HMRC brand.
The Customer Protection Team utilises a blended approach of internally developed tools and processes alongside partnerships with leading third parties, search engines and enforcement agencies, such as the National Trading Standards Board e-Crime Unit, to take action against any websites using the HMRC logo or brand without permission, undertaking criminal proceedings where appropriate.
