The tax authority has managed to clamp down on the majority of fake callers and text messaging, using a team of dedicated anti-scammers at HMRC who focus on actions to make it more difficult to dupe taxpayers.

Reports of scammers impersonating HMRC in phone calls peaked at 79,477 in March 2021 and fell to just 2,491 in December 2021.

The fall in scam call reports to HMRC has also been seen elsewhere with a 92% drop in phishing email reports and a 97% drop in scam text reports over the last year.