Archive for January, 2009
Health & Safety crackdown
A new health and safety law due to come into force on January 16th 2009 will give courts greater power to punish directors of companies which breach the rules. The Health and Safety Offences Act, which will be introduced on friday 16th will make imprisonment an option for many offences. It would effectively mean that Directors could be treated as criminals by the courts. The Act raises the maximum penalties which lower courts can impose from £5,000 to £20,000. It also increases the range of offences for which an individual may be imprisoned and makes certain offences, which are currently only triable in the lower courts, triable in both lower and higher courts. What was once considered a breach of regulations could in future become a criminal matter.
The message is that Directors and senior managers can no longer afford to be lax about health and safety. They need to take a systematic approach, ensure risk assessments are carried out and proper procedures and training are in place to minimise risks and help protect their staff and the public at large.
Security Alert As Fraudsters Target Taxpayers
Thursday January 8 2009
Small business owners and the self-employed are being sent fake email messages stating they are owed a tax rebate and asking for bank or credit card details so the money can be refunded. Alternatively, they are asked to call a phone line to leave their details. The line appears to keep ringing even though callers are being charged up to £6 a minute. Revenue and Customs chief executive Lesley Strathie said: ‘This is the most sophisticated and prolific phishing scam that we have encountered. The messages are being sent out as the January 31 deadline nears for self-assessment forms and when many taxpayers will be due a rebate. HMRC said that concerned taxpayers were forwarding 500 of these e-mails to the authorities a day. The messages include the HMRC logo and are sent from such addresses as refundtax@hmrc.gov.co.uk and taxrefund@hmrc.gov.uk
Ms Strathie said: ‘We only ever contact customers who are due a refund in writing by post. We never use e-mails, telephone calls or external companies in these circumstances.
A spokesman for computer security company Sophos said: ‘It’s a trick that works. People are all too willing to enter their details on to websites without thinking twice.’ He advised the public to type in the web address of a site they wanted to visit rather than clicking on links in unsolicited e-mails. ‘Its the most prolific scam we’ve seen’.
