Fraud on tax code HMRC

[Peasnbeans]

I've just registered to look at my tax code and paid employment on the Gov.co.uk website, and have found that a fraudulent company (B&D Transport, Midlands, multiple Romanian names running it and other businesses from a normal house address) have me down as THEIR EMPLOYEE and say they are paying me! And I'm paying them tax!!
How so?
I've only ever worked for the County Council as PAYE.

Help!
I've checked my Credit report - nothing weird and still an almost 100% (for what it's worth?!)

Not true. You don't even need payslips for finance. I have multiple loans and a credit card and never have I provided a payslip or anything else. I presume they check your bank account and electoral role and give you the money or credit.

How do you people get finance with nothing? I always had to provide ID unless I was applying via my existing bank online. For mortgage I also needed payslips. But yeah that was 8 years ago. Asauming now it can be digital form.

Also... It is true you cannot take finance with payslips only🤷 so not not true

I don't need to report them.
I've investigated them.

It's easy to get a fake passport, fake ID - how do you think the black economy works in this country or any for that matter?!

It's not the banks that a rw fraudulent it's that their checks are easy to buy pass not being the likes of you but by the criminal fraternity.

Illegal immigrants don't just come over via dingys.
Some that do don't just hang around waiting for a hotel room - they get picked up as their ID is already in place.

One thing the government needs to do is get data aligned - dead children and how many of those suddenly have a national insurance number!

@Peasnbeans It could be something as straightforward as a typo when the NI number was being input to various systems. Try not to panic, speak to HMRC tomorrow and take it from there

There's no double check on entering an NI number into payroll software. Once the payroll is processed and the RTI submitted to HMRC they'll send back a message if you've used an incorrect one. But if it was a typo that happened to be your NI number then the employer will be blissfully unaware.

If the employee has filled out their P46 by hand and their handwriting is terrible, it would be easy to misread one letter. It might not be anything sinister.

You don't understand.
They will use the fake ID which is a good bet.
Some good finance companies will say show us your last 3 wage slips - so this is where the OP type fraud comes into place.
Some won't even bother with the last few wage slips.
You don't understand these things at all - just going by how you got finance is not representative of what is and isn't fraudulent and what is and isn't looked at by differing companies.

Aaah.
Thought it got way harder with newer passports in last 10 years.
Of course they have some ID often. Iirc 15 years ago passport went for 5k.

But that still doesn't make statement that getting mortgage with just payslis is simply a no go now, does it.

the company only has three employees!

I wonder if that includes me, and when I started driving for them 😂😂😂

Maybe a mumsnetter who lives nearby could call in and ask for me - say I've won the lottery or similar and they need to give me the money...

Call HMRC urgently and explain the situation and they should advise what to do next. Good luck because this will take a while to sort out - my advise is keep all screen shots/info and make a record of all calls (time, date, what you talked about, follow up actions etc).

I had to give an incredible amount of info to be a guarantor for a child at uni’s rented accommodation such as NI number and dob, address etc. ( why child asked me and not their father I don’t know - as I don’t work and had to provide info - I redacted some of it - that I had the funds to pay if they default). I am sort of expecting someone to try and use my identity for fraudulent means as someone has my NI, dob, address and savings bank info etc.

Again.

I said they cannot get it with payslips only! I did not mention ID's because for all we know here they only run OP's NIC.

Statement "people cannot get finance with only payslips" was not wrong in reply to "they will use the payslips to get finance" , yet 2 of you later stated it was wrong because "they will have fake ID".
I was talking about payslips, at that point no ID's were mentioned.

As I said, business sometimes run other NIC for employees who cannot work to appear legal on paper. That doesn't mean a criminal group with access to quality fake ID's.

Anyway, I am out because obviously, this will just keep derailing OP's thread.

It states their nationality on the hmrc link you provided

You've already got someone's ID.
You've even opened a new bank account in that name.
You've got a passport in that name. You've got a driver's licence in that name.
The fraudsters have paid people in the key agencies they need to access. It's why it's called organised crime.
It not just one person on their own.

You buy a house - you flip it - take the difference close down the ID.

It only comes to light when someone notices that their ID has been used - then all of a sudden an investigation finds out someone working in the passport office has been selling blank passports. Or, someone working in a call centre had been stealing data. Or a solicitor didn't do their job properly but gets away with being incompetent because it's too hard to prove otherwise.
Old people's assets are stolen as they are not as sharp as they once were, houses sold under them. Full home owners are at more risk especially if elderly.

Most shops that you visit where the person's English is not great - chances are they shouldn't be working at all especially if under 60 ish.

They only people that don't get away with fraud are desperate people that did it out of a moment of madness and it's actually that most people are decent that fraud isn't more prevalent.

The agencies that should stop it are not equipped to do so and not to hard to penetrate.

Could be fraud or just a cock up with NINO details but either way HMRC thinking you're earning more than you are won't end well.

Ring HMRC tomorrow morning and tell them its wrong.

I had to call them recently as I'd left on job for another. P45 was accurately and timeously processed but (a) income to date in 2024/5 was double counted and (b) there was an assumption I was still being paid by my old employer.

Tax code on my occupational pension was altered and current employer told to deduct higher rate tax on my entire earnings.

All sorted with a ten minute conversation (albeit after a bit of a wait) and when I get my pension tomorrow the consequences of the mess up will be sorted.

Something very similar happened to me a couple of years ago, I had got a letter about a tax code change, but it was around the 12 week mark of a high risk stressful pregnancy after several losses and the letter just says your tax code has changed not why, so if you've always been PAYE you don't really understand what it would be anyway. Can't say too much as it's under criminal investigation, either way, get on the phone to HMRC the minute the lines open tomorrow, but just be aware even if you've under paid tax/ owe them anything, all they'll do is pay back via adjusted tax code

We don't know what they want it for.
But if they have the id and need the payslips then what they have done to op is what they need to do.
What is so hard to understand?!

https://www.kpl-databreach.co.uk/which-pension-firms-are-involved-in-the-capita-data-breach/

Do you think it could be from teachers pensions, @Justice4Friend or anyone else?
Shall I report it to them too?

How do you register to see you own tax data like that?

HMRC and Action Fraud and your organisation. If you haven't provided your NI number to anyone then it is either complete chance that someone has found your name and NI or someone in your workplace is committing fraud

@Peasnbeans
Something similar happened to me years ago when I started a new job, the person in payroll inputting me as a new starter put my NI number in wrong I did not notice until after about 3 months when I came off emergency tax and I had a massive tax rebate, so they had been paying my tax and me their NI HMRC and payroll department sorted it out quickly, so I hope its just a simple clerical error.

It might be worth reporting on HMRC tax fraud service here.

Via Government Gateway:

https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services/register

Registering is a bit of a pain but once done it's really useful.

My first thought is it was a typo when entering a new employee's NI number to payroll, which was later noticed by new employee and changed hence why it only happened in one month....
needs sorting asap but not a reason to panic!