UK Uncut hacks Vodafone website

UK Uncut, the anti corporate tax avoidance campaign group, has hacked into the Vodafone website, demanding the company pays £6bn in tax.

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The group has hijacked blogs on Vodafone’s “World of Difference” CSR scheme website.

The scheme awards grants to individuals who undertake charity work. Each grant recipient has their own blog on the site.

UK Uncut says a small group of grant receivers leaked their password details to the group because they were “angry at the company’s tax avoidance practices”.

One hacked blog states: “We demand that the Government force Vodafone pay the £6bn in the tax it owes to the public, in order to prevent the cuts to charities and essential public services.”

The statement ends with “See you on the high streets.”

In October the group held sit-down protests at a number of Vodafone’s high street stores, forcing some – including its flagship Oxford Street shop – to temporarily shut down.

The group claims Vodafone has avoided paying £6bn in tax to HM Revenue and Customs, while the government has made £5bn in cuts to charities.

UK Uncut formed last year and has targeted alleged “tax dodgers” including Boots, Arcadia Group stores such as Topshop, RBS, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Tesco.

Vodafone says it has now removed the hijacked and “incorrect” posts on the World of Difference website.

Jane Frapwell, from Vodafone’s responsibility and reputation corporate communications team says: “World of Difference winners are doing great things for charities up and down the country. It’s very sad to see how low people will go to further spread misinformation and for the charitable programme to be used as a platform for this kind of protest.”

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