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HMRC phone scam. 'A lawsuit has been filed against you.'
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jeffian
Posted: 11 February 2017 13:41:52(UTC)
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I'm very sympathetic to those who get caught up in this sort of thing - particularly the elderly and frail who may not be very canny about the iniquities of the modern world - but Kwiksave hit the nail on the head -

"HMRC would never call anybody "out of the blue"

Never panic , just put the phone down."

Not just HMRC, but a bank, a broker or anyone making enquiries of a financial nature simply would not call out of the blue and I assume anyone making first contact by telephone is a scammer.
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3 users thanked jeffian for this post.
Tony Peterson on 11/02/2017(UTC), Guest on 12/02/2017(UTC), c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
CUEBALL
Posted: 11 February 2017 14:49:12(UTC)
#22

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I just left an answer phone message ...didn't have a clue ....they haven't bothered since..lol
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Cynical Investor2
Posted: 12 February 2017 09:47:19(UTC)
#23

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If I have the time, will play a game with these con-artists and string them along, occasionally forensically analysing what they have said. Then when I have had my fun advise the caller I am a Fraud Investigator and this call has been recorded. The call then suddenly ends.
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c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
Elie Gabay
Posted: 12 February 2017 13:07:08(UTC)
#24

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Keep a powerful trumpet or whistle by the phone in order to damage the caller's hearing.

Talk Talk have a feature that instantly blocks the last call. You dial 14258 then press **, but the maximum that can be blocked is 10 numbers.
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Tony Peterson on 12/02/2017(UTC), David B on 12/02/2017(UTC)
Tony Peterson
Posted: 12 February 2017 14:34:08(UTC)
#25

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What? Only ten numbers? We've got scores of crooks dialling us on a daily basis.

Surely the technology exists for telephone companies to trace any cold call complained about by a TPS registered subscriber immediately, and see that the perpetrators (or rather the directors of their companies) get hit with the bailiffs immediately.

It could be done. Why is the will not there? Is Britain really more corrupt than Nigeria or Pakistan?
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Elie Gabay on 13/02/2017(UTC), c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
Tony Peterson
Posted: 12 February 2017 17:41:19(UTC)
#26

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Although I think Alan Selwood's idea of shooting cold calling scammers may be (a little) over the top, I cannot help reflecting that our enrolment to the MPS works perfectly, unlike to the TPS. We do not get junk mail. We are neverendingly plagued by unsolicited calls. Obviously this is because mail scammers have to include addresses, and telephone scammers hide. I think that some actually confine their calls to those TPS registered since these are more likely to be scam-vulnerable. I would also make it a criminal offence to sell personal data.

I have lodged complaints with the TPS and the ICO to no avail in spite of the fact that I can prove that cold callers have caused significant distress when my wife was recovering from multiple surgery, in pain, and with insomnia.

I would suggest that for every cold call received by a TPS listed objector, the ICO should lose £100 of his own salary unless he can trace and prosecute the company directors ultimately responsible for making the call. Once traced the directors should be prosecuted, fined (and victima paid £100 per cold call received), with their personal assets seized under the proceed of crime act. Serial offenders should be imprisoned for life, with no access to telephones. Sanctions should also be applied to the service providers until they manage to identify the criminals making the cold calls.

This plague could be cured quickly if the incentives were there. The technology certainly is.
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andy mac on 12/02/2017(UTC), c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
gggggg hjhjkl;'
Posted: 12 February 2017 18:07:02(UTC)
#27

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I have found answering the calls from numbers I do not recognise but then saying nothing at all has worked very well!! What normally happens is that the caller hangs up after 20 or so seconds.

I belong to all the preference services and tick all of the relevant boxes

On average I now only receive about 1 rogue call or so a month.
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David 111
Posted: 12 February 2017 19:02:14(UTC)
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gggggg hjhjkl;' - Yes I have found that works well with real people. It is less effective with recorded messages.
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Sara G
Posted: 12 February 2017 20:17:50(UTC)
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I never answer my landline at home unless it is someone I know and have instructed my elderly mother to do the same. At work it's a different matter... We are bombarded with calls from 'Microsoft' on a daily basis and if I have time on my hands I string them along a bit just for fun - pretending there is someone at the door and then simply leaving the line open is my favourite - it's amazing how long they will hang on if they think they've got a bite ;)
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chubby bunny
Posted: 12 February 2017 21:23:48(UTC)
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Sara G;43085 wrote:
I never answer my landline at home unless it is someone I know and have instructed my elderly mother to do the same. At work it's a different matter... We are bombarded with calls from 'Microsoft' on a daily basis and if I have time on my hands I string them along a bit just for fun - pretending there is someone at the door and then simply leaving the line open is my favourite - it's amazing how long they will hang on if they think they've got a bite ;)



I once had a bit of fun with one of those Microsoft calls by going to the microwave instead of my computer. After 5 minutes of trying not to laugh, it ended with the chap telling me to stick my head inside and turn it on.
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c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
Alan Selwood
Posted: 12 February 2017 23:48:35(UTC)
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He obviously doesn't have a microwave, or he'd know you can't put your head in and then close the door without detaching your head to do so!

Or perhaps that's what he hoped you'd do.......!!
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Alan Selwood
Posted: 12 February 2017 23:52:14(UTC)
#32

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Tony,

I did not say that I wanted to shoot the conmen.

My exact words were:

"In an ideal world, those who con the public from offshore bases or by swift changes of company name or contact phone number should be shot, and volunteers who could show how they might achieve this should be employed and well-rewarded!"

As we do not live in an ideal world, everything that followed is only a distant pipe-dream, not an invitation to murder!
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andy
Posted: 13 February 2017 12:58:26(UTC)
#33

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Another recent call came from Egypt - but the number is 00203... so at a glance it might appear to be a London number ... but it has an extra 0 at the front.

Andrew
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c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
J Thomas
Posted: 14 February 2017 23:59:47(UTC)
#34

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An update on this nefarious scam.
My MP informed me yesterday he has written to the Chief Executive of HMRC asking firstly, are their organisation aware of this scam and secondly, what steps are being implemented to safeguard the public from these criminals as a matter of urgency.
He awaits an early response from HMRC and has promised to keep me informed on any action being taken by various agencies.
In the interim, anyone who receives these fraudulent scams should inform their own MP and/or the Police.
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Tony Peterson on 15/02/2017(UTC)
Jon Snow
Posted: 15 February 2017 00:44:41(UTC)
#35

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We have a BT clever phone 8000 (or similar) yet we still get the automated voice offering to clean our oven.

Rather than waste our time with the TPS etc we have gone for the nuclear option.

All calls to answerphone

No message left - rubbish call

Message left and it makes sense - call back or even intercept

Call barring from 1900 - 0900

Peace and joy in the household.

PS no one is ever going to ring you with anything for your benefit. Ignore it.

PPS even if you're old and lonely, ask your children or a neighbour first.
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1 user thanked Jon Snow for this post.
Tony Peterson on 15/02/2017(UTC)
Andrew Hill
Posted: 15 February 2017 09:39:33(UTC)
#37

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One of the main problems with this type of fraud is the transferring of funds by people from one account to another.

First suggestion. stop the banks from hiding behind "data protection" when there is an allegation of fraud.

Second suggestion. If you want an account which allows electronic payments into it from other personal or small business accounts you must attend the bank in person with passport, driving licence or other bona fide means of identification as well as proof of address. (not mobile phone bills)

At the bank you will then give a biometric fingerprint, iris scan and DNA sample as well as a high resolution photograph.

Of course it wouldn't be compulsory, you could still have the existing arrangments, you just wouldn't be able to have transfers. Give the banks 6 months to get it up and running and 18 months to implement it.

If the banks really did have any kind of understanding of who actually holds their accounts, or should I say, controls them this would not be a problem.
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2 users thanked Andrew Hill for this post.
Tony Peterson on 15/02/2017(UTC), c brown on 02/03/2017(UTC)
Alan Selwood
Posted: 15 February 2017 10:46:22(UTC)
#36

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Jon Snow;43219 wrote:
We have a BT clever phone 8000 (or similar) yet we still get the automated voice offering to clean our oven.

Rather than waste our time with the TPS etc we have gone for the nuclear option.

All calls to answerphone

No message left - rubbish call

Message left and it makes sense - call back or even intercept

Call barring from 1900 - 0900

Peace and joy in the household.

PS no one is ever going to ring you with anything for your benefit. Ignore it.

PPS even if you're old and lonely, ask your children or a neighbour first.



One of the grey areas is where the bank customer (or holder of cash at home) is getting old and is losing critical faculties, but does not have someone competent and trustworthy controlling the money for them.
It is all too easy for a 90-year old with little previous financial skills to no longer understand the going rate for various goods and services, or to no longer have critical judgment about whether a stranger is trustworthy or offering a reasonable deal.

This is why the conmen prey on the elderly - easy pickings! (And not strong enough to biff them if they threaten physical violence when thwarted in their attempts to extract money!).
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andy
Posted: 15 February 2017 12:58:55(UTC)
#38

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Andrew Hill

First suggestion. stop the banks from hiding behind "data protection" when there is an allegation of fraud.


Thank you for that suggestion ... I had identity fraud a few years ago. Some people like HL and HSBC (who provided Experian assistance) - and I was slightly surprised but for once in a good way Wonga - were brilliant.

The Co-op Bank was unhelpful and O2 - as you said - simply said - you have admitted that you are not the account owner and as such data protection laws means we can not talk to you. Inspire of this O2 then sold the debt on to a debt collection agency who kept chasing me - O2 then said - we have sold the debt on and as such you need to speak to the debt collection agency. They could not have been less helpful if they tried.

Vodaphone and Carphone Warehouse were only very slightly better.

I am pretty driven and it really took it out of me emotionally - it must be so easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore it. I cant imagine how people who are less experienced and driven would manage.

This was a few years ago so it might have improved since then. Might.
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Jeff Liddiard
Posted: 02 March 2017 11:24:09(UTC)
#39

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Just thought I would mention this so you can be on the alert.

Talking about Scam or Spam for that matter. I've just received an email from notification@gohinkotha.com
which is a Shipping Confirmation of the goods I've ordered! No detail of the item ordered, no price, no supplier address. It quotes an order number for me to click on for more information which of course I will NOT be doing! I have not got anything on order from anyone at the moment (fortunately) which sounded the alarm bells for me. The communication quotes my name, town and postcode but does not quote my house number or street name. There is a reference in the small print at the bottom of the page 'repairtools B.V.' A quick search on Google doesn't bring up anything. I will now be deleting the email.
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