Be alert to telephone scams
There have been a number of recent reports of attempted frauds starting with a telephone call rather than the more typical email or text scams.
The calls concerned purport to come from a Heather Grey of HMRC and appear to be an attempt to obtain debit card details. Persistent repeated calls and threatening messages are made suggesting that payment should be made or legal advice should be taken. The numbers displayed include 020 31296397, 020 31291409 and many others.
This issue is being investigated by HMRC’s fraud section. HMRC has published advice on phishing emails and bogus contact and genuine HMRC contact and recognising phishing emails. This advice suggests that consideration be given to reporting the calls to ActionFraud. If any details are inadvertently disclosed HMRC should be contacted immediately on security.custcon@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
