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Financial scams have become much more prominent and sophisticated in recent years. A few examples that are concerning include those purporting to be HMRC, phone companies, and banks. These are all companies that people rely on and trust.
With HMRC, we have recently seen an example of a scam letter, and at first glance, the letter would appear to be genuine, with the HMRC logo and the contents laid out in the same format as usual HMRC correspondence. However, this letter was in fact not genuine, and there were a few signs which indicated that it was suspicious. I have highlighted a few points to look out for below:
- No contact phone number on the letters – HMRC would always include this, but the scammers don’t want you to call HMRC to verify or discuss the letter (as you’d find out it isn’t genuine)
- Requesting copies of recent accounts, VAT returns or anything else that HMRC can obtain themselves from their own records.
- Asking for proof of ID – HMRC would never ask for this.
- Any email address they give as their own should always end with “.gov.uk”. No government agencies (which includes HMRC) will use a .com or .org domain, it will always be .gov.uk.
- HMRC would always request the information or documents to be sent by post, never emailed to them.
Scammers will also send texts, make phone calls and send emails too. Within these communications, there are a few other signs to look out for, that are more generalised and apply to all different types of scams:
- Threatening language: scammers may threaten lawsuits, arrest warrants, or demand immediate payment
- Pressure to act quickly: scammers may try to pressure you into acting without thinking
- Unprompted contact: scammers may contact you out of the blue
- Requests for personal information: scammers may ask for your bank or credit card details, National Insurance number, or other sensitive information
Between 1 February 2024 and 30 June 2024, Which? has collected the data from “Who Called Me”, a company that collects reports of suspicious phone numbers. The table below shows the top 10 scam calls search during that time:
1. Phone contract scam 3,419,100
2. Debt scam 1,568,776
3. Utility scam 1,494,591
4. Energy scam 1,428,304
5. Billing scam 1,298,175
6. Insulation scam 1,044,064
7. Bank scam 987,423
8. Life insurance scam 943,588
9. Housing repairs scam 801,206
10. Survey scam 699,866
If you’re ever called by a number that you’re not sure of, you can visit “Who Called Me” and search the number. This will bring up the history of that number and a summary, often including a note to say whether or not the number is likely to be linked to a scam.
So, what can be done to avoid falling victim to a scam?
- Be skeptical when someone contacts you out of the blue. Don’t give out any personal information that can be used by others to access any of your accounts.
- Don’t click on unknown links you have received in emails. Clicking the link can be the ‘way in’ for scammers.
- Ensure you keep your devices updated – software updates can include important security measures.
- Enable multi-factor authentication for log-ins. This can add an additional layer of protection for you.
- If someone mentions a company name they are working for, research the company name. Often there will be reports and information on how this could be connected to a scam.
- Look out for suspicious payment requests. Scammers will ask for payments via cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency and other forms of payment that are harder to trace.
- Don’t refund or forward any overpayments that are made to you. Once done, the original payment will be fraudulent and taken back later, leaving you out of pocket.
- Sign up for a free credit monitoring with Experian to get alerted when there are unexpected changes in your credit report.
