Romanian men arrested by HMRC over alleged £153m tax fraud plot

Romanian men arrested by HMRC over alleged £153m tax fraud plotThe men have been accused of using the social media platform TikTok to persuade UK taxpayers to hand over access to their tax accounts. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source By Ciaran McGrath, Senior News Reporter 11:49, Thu, Jun 4, 2026 Updated: 12:03, Thu, Jun 4, 2026 Romanian men arrested by HMRC over alleged £153m tax fraud plot (Image: Getty)Two Romanian men have been arrested by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over an alleged £153 million tax fraud scheme, which investigators say used TikTok to obtain taxpayers' personal details. The suspects, aged 22 and 25, were detained by HMRC cybercrime officers in east London after authorities blocked what they described as £153 million of suspected fraudulent tax repayment claims. window.scriptsToLoad.push({url:'https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=118222&vp_content=plembed3a6btjknzwqh&cbuster=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&playerApiId=v118222',triggeredBy:'tcfLoaded',delay:1500,containerId:'ovp-primis',title:"Primis player",beforeLoad:()=>{window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v118222"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}})},}) According to HMRC, the men are accused of using the social media platform to persuade UK taxpayers to hand over access to their tax accounts in exchange for promises of financial rewards. The pair, both Romanian nationals, were arrested at addresses in Newham on April 23 and have since been released on bail while enquiries continue. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Get personal finance news, money saving tips and advice plus selcted offers and competitions Subscribe Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties...