It is so important that you are up-to-date with the latest scams that criminals are using to defraud genuine taxpayers. Working under the guise of HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue Customs) is not new. There have been numerous paper, text, email and phone scams and ordinary people have lost thousands of pounds as a result. These criminals are not stupid. They see the articles warning people and adapt their methods accordingly. That’s why we regularly bring you updates so that you can continue to protect your hard earned cash.
What is the latest fake HMRC scam?
The latest fake HMRC scam involves some technology that allows the perpetrators to spoof HMRC’s real phone numbers. The call appears legitimate but, essentially, the number has been hijacked. Instead of the real phone’s number, a different number (in this case HMRC’s) shows up on your caller ID. Some smartphones even show the number as being HMRC.
A search for phone number spoofing UK brought up two companies that provide this service on the first two pages. That’s in amongst all the articles warning the public, explanations of what it is and Action Fraud advice. These companies market this service as something to use to play a prank on someone and there is no mention of cost on their homepages. They are using Voice over Internet Protocol tech to spoof the number and also offer different voices as an option.
So the fraudster can input HMRC’s real number, most often 0300 200 3300, that lots of people recognise as legitimate. Then they can continue the pretence by posing as HMRC employees that are chasing an unpaid tax bill that requires reconciling before the police are sent to your house. It you are unable to answer, they commonly leave messages with the same serious claims that require you to call them back urgently.
Spoofing the real HMRC phone number is a clever move because it can be used by the criminal as evidence of their legitimacy during the entire phone call. Most people either don’t know that number cloning is possible at all, or don’t know how easy it is, so it’s not even a suspicion.
What are HMRC doing about this latest phone number spoofing scam?
As reported by Angelique Ruzicka in This is Money, an HMRC spokesperson said: “We are well aware that fraudsters are trying to spoof our real numbers in order to legitimatise their crimes. We encourage people, as with any scam, to be vigilant. We will never call you out of the blue asking for money. If you’re in doubt, you can put the phone down and call us back. You can report this scam to [email protected] or Action Fraud at 0300 123 2040. All our phone numbers are listed on gov.uk if people want to call us.” You can find out other ways to alert HMRC to a spam phone call or email here.
What can I do to protect myself?
It is all about vigilance. Each person must take responsibility for protecting their financial information and do it with as much diligence as when they secure their home.
This means:
- Do not click on links in emails
- Don’t open text message or email attachments
- Don’t reply to text messages
- Don’t give out any personal or financial information
Unless you are certain that the call, message or email is legitimate.
HMRC do sometimes phone taxpayers to discuss their tax position, particularly if they owe HMRC money. If you are unsure, you can politely tell them that you are suspicious and would like to call back to verify the call. This is not a problem to HMRC, in fact they would prefer this than people lose thousands of pounds to criminals. In order to confirm that they really are HMRC, sometimes they will share information about you that only they (and you) would know. If the real HMRC leave you a message, it will have your Unique Taxpayer Reference Number. They never ask people for bank details, PIN numbers or passwords.
We’re busy and often doing several things at once, as quickly as possible. The temptation is to open everything so you can decide if immediate action is needed, or if you can flag it for later. But just opening an attachment, or clicking on a link, can give fraudsters access to your information. Give yourself time to deal with this type of admin when you can focus on it. That way you’re more likely to spot a fake. Think before you click.
