Tax scam reports increase The Mail reports that HMRC staff have dealt with 60,000 scam reports in the six months to January, marking a 360% increase on the previous six months. The paper, which earlier this year exposed scammers operating from overseas call centres, says reports of tax fraud have climbed 10% since it published details of its investigation. It adds that Treasury Minister Mel Stride has written to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to demand diplomatic action to tackle such fraudsters.