HMRC scam

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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:11 am

At 3 pm on a Saturday, I get a call for someone claiming to be from HMRC saying that there was a debt recovery problem and I was being contacted by the "Shipley Debt Management Unit".

I listened warily as the inevitable questions began about extracting my personal details.

A female English accent warned of consequences and the "urgency" of dealing with it. She was a cold as ice. There were other clues in the call that didn't add up either.

I owe no-one anything, and HMRC have not written to me to say otherwise.

I am reminded so often never to give personal details out over the 'phone. I didn't.

It's a damn scam. The number I was asked to call was 0845 3021427 and an internet search betrays that it is a long-running saga, from at least a year ago...

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/08453003950

It looks like my telephone number and name have fallen into the hands of someone they shouldn't. I wonder how? I shan't wonder long. I can guess. Lost CD with no password comes to mind.

She wasn't calling from that number either, but from 0845 3003950 (also revealed by the same search).

Damn it guys, does the law do anything to stop these people? That's more than a year.

Whom do I contact to help stop this fraud?

419Eater is my life Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 299

Bramle wrote:

It looks like my telephone number and name have fallen into the hands of someone they shouldn't. I wonder how?

All they have to do is grab the trusty blue cat (Thomson Phone Book Razz

).

Either that, or jump over to 192.com.

It probably works like our 419 lads do. Call up a load of people, most people ignore you, some naive person will bite eventually and pay day has arrived.

What to do? I suppose all you can do is call the local police force (or Constabulary, as some forces like to be called...) (Clicky) on their non-emergency number. It should be quite prominent on their website. Whether they'll do much about it? Goodness knows.

//EDIT: Wow I never realised there was an Emergency Text Number... I can imagine: "plz hlp attk und brdg @ trn stat", with the officers thinking: "WTF?"

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:57 am

General :

Thanks.

One guy has said that when he read out a made-up NI number to the telephone fraudster, they checked it by typing then pronounced it "not coming up".

I think they have access to more than a 'phone book.

What was chilling was the "matter of fact" English female accent, festooned with reference numbers and "urgency" and the fact that this tactic has been running for over a year.

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:03 am

UK NI numbers have certain validation rules. A quick Google has shown at least one on-line checker to see if a particular NI number is valid.

They are probably using something like that and the person who gave the fake number, probably just picked a bad one.

train boi Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 697

@Bramle

Police reply to the text "WTF are you on today? Are you a druggie please send name and address of you and dealer so we can send lads round to arrest you kthnx"

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:22 pm

Seeing as you had a nice lady with a frosty English accent calling via an 0845, it sounds like our crooks are in the UK - which makes the likelihood of arrest so much sweeter. You don't fuck with HMRC, that's the governments money. Anyway I suggest passing all the info you have to both your local police and HMRC themselves, there will be no issues about getting the 0845 provider to reveal the caller ID, and if it's a landline or contract mobile, they're fucked. Even PAYG or VOIP they have a fairly healthy risk of being fucked. All good.

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:34 pm

These crooks have at least done some good - they've reminded me that I need to do my VAT return for the last quarter!