WHAT do Jack the Ripper and King Kong have in common? They’re both owed £418.33 in back tax, according to a discovery made by a West Fife councillor.

At least, that’s the claim of a scam website which is duping people into giving up their personal details in the hope of claiming a tax refund.

But when suspicious Tory councillor Dave Dempsey (pic) decided to call its bluff by entering made-up details, he found that the website would return with the same amount time and time again, regardless of whether whoever was claiming was alive, dead, or indeed even human!

Notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper hasn’t been heard of since the 19th century, and it’s highly unlikely that King Kong ever had any need to pay tax, but it’s regular everyday people that are being exploited by the scam and Cllr Dempsey is warning West Fifers to be aware of the “sophisticated” online trap after he received an email entitled ‘tax refund notification’.

“I was suspicious because I didn’t think I was due a refund and because the sender’s email address ended in ‘.co.uk’ rather than ‘.gov.uk’,” he explained. “The wording was a little odd too but not glaringly so.

“As an ex-software engineer, I have a technical interest in these things so I looked a little further and came to a well-constructed web page with the HMRC logo and lots of links to other tax topics. Clicking any of the links, however, brings you back to the same tax refund form that asks for email, name and date of birth.

“I entered those, or, rather, I entered completely fictitious data. I now know that Jack the Ripper is owed £418.33 in back tax, as is King Kong and everyone else who’s ever existed or not. What’s really clever is that the website pretends to search for the name before returning the same answer regardless. It then asks for credit card details. At that point I stopped.

“I’ve reported this to the HMRC ‘phishing’ line as advised on the genuine email and I’ll now take it up with trading standards, the police and my MP. However, it’s important that word gets out ASAP to as many people as possible.” If you think you have received a suspicious or fraudulent tax rebate, email phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.