Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are warning Islanders and those across Hampshire about scam telephone calls, which can be aggressive.
Calls have been made where a recorded message is left threatening legal action and ‘final warnings’ are mentioned.
According to HMRC a number of calls were received on the Isle of Wight in April, with further calls still circulating this week.
A HMRC spokesperson has said:
“Phone scams are widely reported, and generally attempt to target elderly and vulnerable people. They often involve people receiving a call out of the blue and being told that HMRC is investigating them. If you can’t verify the identity of the caller, we recommend that you do not speak to them.
“HMRC will call people about outstanding tax bills, and sometimes use automated messages, however this would include your taxpayer reference number. If you are uncertain of the caller hang up and call HMRC directly to check – you can confirm our call centre numbers on GOV.UK if you are unsure. For tax credits we do not include your details in any voicemail messages.”
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 to be from HMRC to [email protected] and texts to 60599, or contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 to report any suspicious calls or use their online fraud reporting tool.
Check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scamsand 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.
Report a disclosure of personal details to HMRC
Contact the HMRC security team if you think you’ve given any personal information in reply to a suspicious phone call, email or text. Include brief details of what you disclosed (for example – I gave my name, address, HMRC User ID, password) but do not give your personal details in the email.
HMRC security team: [email protected].
