In this HMRC Scam Warning given by ITV

See:  http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2016-07-20/police-warn-of-hmrc-phone-scam/

It tells you to call HMRC using  0870 280 2566 which is provided by

http://www.quickphonenumber.co.uk/hmrc-contact-number/   Which is a premium rate 'call connection services' run by a third party who  forward calls and get the Service Charge element of the call cost.Basically  a third-party scam

HMRC procedure for reporting scams can be found here.
https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing

Mycroft would probably suggest that Inspector Sherlock should investigate matters more thoroughly before drawing his conclusions about the best number to use to contact HMRC.

I decided to drop ITV Viewer Services an e-mail:



Quote:

Dear ITV Viewer Services, I am contacting you with regards to an article on your main ITV website here: http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2016-07-20/police-warn-of-hmrc-phone-scam/ The article advises readers to contact HMRC an on 0870 number as follows “Our advice for such scams is to politely decline to hand over any money and to take the details of the caller and ring HMRC on 0870 280 2566 to check if it is an actual case or fraudulent. The HMRC website states they would never use these methods to tell you about a tax rebate, a penalty or even to get personal payment information. We would like to advise the public to be wary of such scams” The number provided is a 3rd party call through number.  The owner of the number could record calls without the caller's knowledge or could even divert the calls to a fake line pretending to be for HMRC. The number is listed here: http://www.quickphonenumber.co.uk/hmrc-contact-number/ (clearly NOT HMRC) HMRC advise to report any potential scams online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/genuine-hmrc-contact-and-recognising-phishing-emails/genuine-hmrc-contact-and-recognising-phishing-emails and here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/reporting-fraudulent-emails Their main contact number is: 0300 200 3300 Should this e-mail need to be re-directed to the appropriate team please feel free to do so. I look forward to your reply.

I will keep you updated on any progress.

:)

Excellent

Looks like it's been updated:



Quote:

- itv.com Credit: PA Police are warning people about a phone scam from a caller posing as a HMRC employee. The scammer demands payment for an overdue tax bill, threatening to contact the police if the money isn't transferred. It's believed that the elderly and vulnerable are being targeted: Our advice for such scams is to politely decline to hand over any money and to take the details of the caller and ring HMRC to check if it is an actual case or fraudulent. The HMRC website states they would never use these methods to tell you about a tax rebate, a penalty or even to get personal payment information. We would like to advise the public to be wary of such scams. – Inspector Jon Sherlock of the Community Safety Unit You can contact HMRC here (Gives link to HMRC site).

:) :) :)

Tomorrow's Sunday Mirror:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bungling-police-officer-doesnt-live-8625274

.... and the Mirror call 0300 freephone... :-/

I saw a reference to 'local rate', didn't see 'freephone' mentioned. Wording such as 'inclusive else geographic rate' seems too complicated for some people to handle, but that's the most accurate way of describing things for 03 numbers.

The ITV website still shows the 0870 number.

Ah, spotted the freephone reference right at the very end. That's incorrect.

The 20th July article has it, but the 10th August entry has a link...

Worrying.. I will e-mail them again later.

http://www.itv.com/news/border/search/?q=HMRC

I wonder who thought it was clever idea to leak it to the mirror ?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bungling-police-officer-doesnt-live-8625274

On checking the Cumbria Police Press Releases. The original May release gave the Action Fraud Contact Number.
see https://www.cumbria.police.uk/News/News-Articles/2016/May/Police-warn-of-HMRC-money-scam.aspx

The revised July one  https://www.cumbria.police.uk/News/News-Articles/2016/July/HMRC-phone-scam-warning.aspx gives the correct contact number.

No suggestion of Freephone on either of these.

Clearly the  current regulation on these third party  scam numbers should be tightened up.

The press releases originally gave a premium rate 0870 number belonging to a 'call connection service' and were corrected only a few weeks ago.

Ofcom says there's no evidence of consumer harm arising from these 'fake' numbers. This is clearly not the case.

Ian01 wrote on Aug 14^th, 2016 at 7:05am:

Ofcom says there's no evidence of consumer harm arising from these 'fake' numbers. This is clearly not the case.

I can on a personal level state that there IS harm arising from these numbers, mainly in the cases I have noticed are from somewhat unsuspecting callers dialling 0844/0871 numbers believing they are calling the legitimate number of an organisation.

It's a shocking situation and frankly one that at least Ofcom need to tackle!  The organisations who's number these companies claim to be for, appear powerless to stop it...

Ian01 wrote on Aug 13^th, 2016 at 9:33pm:

Tomorrow's Sunday Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bungling-police-officer-doesnt-live-8625274

Quote:

We apologise. We got the number from the HMRC’s website

No they didn't!

kasg wrote on Aug 15^th, 2016 at 10:31am:

Quote: We apologise. We got the number from the HMRC’s website No they didn't!

The point is that they are amongst very many people who pick up these scam numbers believing that they are genuine - even thinking that they have got them from an official source.

The fair telecoms campaign has proposed that Ofcom, in conjunction with the Phone-paid Services Authority (currently still known as PhonepayPlus) take action to ensure that ALL ICSS services operate properly, or not at all. The first step is to designate ICSS as a premium rate service regardless of the level of Service Charge - this would involve a very simple change to the Premium Rate Conditions, which already specify a number of service which are always classed as "premium rate". This would make them subject to the pre-approval regime, which appears to have driven them onto 084 numbers in order to avoid it.

Showing that an (unfortunately-named) police officer can be misled removes any doubt about the nature of the problem.

I just get scam phone number from HMRC and they asked my for my details. They said that they have same money fr e to pay me back and start asking me for card details. Never give bank details on the phone for someone that you don't know.

DannyCaller wrote on Jun 22^nd, 2017 at 12:52pm:

I just get scam phone number from HMRC and they asked my for my details. They said that they have same money fr e to pay me back and start asking me for card details. Never give bank details on the phone for someone that you don't know.

Hi there DannyCaller

I guess you mean, claiming to be from HMRC, as it's clearly a scam...

:(