HMRC warns of landline scams threatening households

Households with a landline number should be vigilant of phone calls from fraudsters pretending to be the tax authority, warns HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

As HMRC has increasingly cracked down on email and SMS phishing, a rising number of criminals are turning to the traditional method of cold-calling publicly available phone numbers to steal money from taxpayers. Often these calls are to landline numbers.

According to Ofcom, nearly 26 million homes have a landline many of which could be at risk from scams, especially if they are not ex-directory.

Phone scams often target the elderly and vulnerable using HMRC’s brand as it is well-known and adds credibility to a fraudster’s call.

HMRC received more than 60,000 reports of phone scams in six months up to January 2019. This is an increase of 360% compared to the six months before this.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP, said:

“We have taken major steps to crackdown on text and email phishing scams leaving fraudsters no choice but to try and con taxpayers over the phone.

“If you receive a suspicious call to your landline from someone purporting to be from HMRC which threatens legal action, to put you in jail, or payment using vouchers: hang-up and report it to HMRC who can work to take them off the network.”

Head of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said:

“Fraudsters will call your landline claiming to be from reputable organisations such as HMRC. Contact like this is designed to convince you to hand over valuable personal details or your money.

“Don’t assume anyone who calls you is who they say they are. If a person calls and asks you to make a payment, log in to an online account or offers you a deal, be cautious and seek advice.”

The tax authority will only ever call you asking for payment on a debt that you are already aware of, either having received a letter about it, or after you’ve told us you owe some tax, for example through a Self-Assessment return.

During the last 12 months, HMRC has worked with the phone networks and Ofcom to close nearly 450 lines being used by fraudsters using boiler room tactics to steal money.

If anyone is ever in doubt about who they are speaking to, HMRC advises you end the call and contact the department using one of the numbers or online services available from GOV.UK

Notes to editors

I know someone who could fall for this, what should I do?

If you know someone who has a landline, particularly those who may need protecting such as vulnerable relatives and neighbours, our advice is:

• Recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or bank details.
• Stay safe - don’t give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you weren’t expecting.
• Take action - forward suspicious emails claiming and details of suspicious calls to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.ukand texts to 60599, or contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use theironline fraud reporting tool, especially if you suffer financial loss.
• Check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scams and recognise genuine HMRC contact.
• If you think you have received an HMRC related phishing/bogus email or text message, you can check it against the examples shown in this guide.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said of landline scams:

“Scammers will use any means possible to cheat people out of their money and we’d urge everyone to be cautious when they receive a cold-call from someone requesting personal information, no matter where they say they’re calling from. If there are any niggling doubts it is always sensible to end the call and contact the company or government department separately using a phone number taken from a piece of official correspondence or their website.

“We encourage people to feel in control of who calls them at home, for example by signing up to the Telephone Preference Service or installing a call blocking device. To find out more about how Age UK can help, including obtaining the Charity’s free information guides ‘Avoiding Scams’ and ‘Staying Safe’, people can call Age UK Advice on 0800 169 6565, visit www.ageuk.org.uk or speak to their local Age UK."

Age UK press office contact details

Liz Fairweather: 020 3033 1718

Out of hours number: 07071 243 243.

HMRC’s other action against scams

• In 2016 HMRC identified a significant increase in customers receiving malicious ‘HMRC’ branded texts in 2016, and with the phone industry, piloted controls that resulted in a 90% reduction in reports of these scams. The evidence from that pilot provided the basis for Mobile Ecosystem Forum to progress for a more scalable product used by others
• HMRC has deployed technical controls that have so far stopped around half a billion phishing emails from ever reaching our customers' inboxes and reduced reported instances of HMRC-branded phone text scams by 90%

• We work with a range of partners to quickly initiate the removal of phone numbers fraudster are using; this includes the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum (TUFF), Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) and OfCom

Ofcom has advice on nuisance calls including how to protect yourself, such as going ex-directory. More information is on their website. There were 25.9 million residential landlines at the end of September 2018 (source: Ofcom Q3 2018 Telecommunications Market Data Update).