BEWARE OF SCAMS
Over the last 18 months we have seen a great increase in fraudulent scams which are becoming more elaborate and sophisticated with time. They come in many forms from telephone calls and ‘phishing’ emails to formal letters. The fraudsters attempt to portray government agencies and ask you to make contact with them or click on a link for further information. If you do so you will be asked for personal details or malicious malware could be installed on your phone or computer. The scams can prove extremely costly to taxpayers!
The latest scam is a letter which portrays itself as being sent from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It is printed on what looks like official DWP headed paper and asks the taxpayer to make contact by telephone in order to confirm the correct amount of State Pension is being received. The letter looks legitimate, and individuals could be easily deceived by it. The quickest way to check its legitimacy is to research the contact numbers on the letter. If the numbers are not on the official government website (gov.uk) then it is most likely a scam, and you should not make contact.
No government agency should ask you to confirm personal information such as bank details over the phone. If you receive any correspondence from a government department, please consider the following:
- Never click on a link in a suspicious email or text message. If you do, then it may be too late as they could contain malicious software.
- Before calling any number on a letter please research it first. If it doesn’t appear on a government website (gov.uk) then it is most likely a scam.
- Government agencies will not ask you to call a mobile number.
- Never give personal information such as bank details out over the phone.
HMRC are made aware of these scams as they evolve and have a dedicated department tasked with finding and stopping these criminals. If you wish to report a suspected scam, please use the following link:
BEWARE OF SCAMS
If you have any doubt over any correspondence received, please contact a member of the Haslers team.