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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To inform you of new HMRC phone scam

19 replies

CapricornRising · 08/04/2021 08:59

This morning from the number +44 7452 995672, informing you that you are under investigation for tax fraud and if you do not press 1, "you will get arrested shortly".

Arseholes.

OP posts:

Mydogdoesntlisten · 08/04/2021 09:03

Thanks. We had one too.

duvetdreaming · 08/04/2021 09:05

I had this a few weeks ago as I was going out, just as I left my house a police car parked outside. I was so relieved when I realised it was the PC over the road being dropped off

EmilyEmmabob · 08/04/2021 09:15

I've had this, from a few different numbers. I think the scammers clone phone numbers so it looks like they're calling from a mobile or a local landline. It was so scary!

Lockheart · 08/04/2021 09:15

This is not new. It's as old as the hills. And very obviously a scam.

Original poster

CapricornRising · 08/04/2021 09:23

The automated phone call was a new one for me. I've previously had texts and emails but they're obviously doing the rounds again with a new, more intrusive version.

OP posts:

SmidgenofaPigeon · 08/04/2021 09:24

I had this. The only reaction is to laugh and hang up surely. I can’t believe anyone would be taken in by an automated voice saying they’re sending the police to arrest you.

billyt · 08/04/2021 09:28

if I get a call from any number I don't recognise then I don't answer.

if it's important they'll leave a message

Penners99 · 08/04/2021 09:33

I always play along for a bit, then get very very rude with them. I love it when they call back as well, then they get the whistle blown, loud.

Petty? Yes. Satisfying? Very much!

Lockheart · 08/04/2021 09:34

@billyt

if I get a call from any number I don't recognise then I don't answer.

if it's important they'll leave a message

Also a good tactic, although one I've had to suspend temporarily when working from home and having to use my mobile for work!

CatsHairEverywhere2 · 08/04/2021 09:34

Had that one a few months ago, plus a few times since.

SmidgenofaPigeon · 08/04/2021 09:34

Actually when I had it though I only answered because it flashed up as a London number, and I was expecting a call from my midwife. If it had been an O8 or a withheld number I wouldn’t have bothered picking up.

Bakeachocolatecake2day · 08/04/2021 09:36

It's not new, I had that one a year ago.

Microsoft - your computer has been compromised
Amazon charges - pesss if you didn't make transaction
Internet about to be cut off
Tax fraud - you are about to be arrested
National Insurance Number Fraud - Your NI number to be removed.
...and more I'll think of shortly!

Bluntness100 · 08/04/2021 09:37

This isn’t new, it’s been around for a very long time, I think it was a year or so I got it. However great to remind folks.

CounsellorTroi · 08/04/2021 09:40

I’ve had one recently, automated with an American accent, claiming to be “the local county courthouse” saying I needed to ring the number provided ASAP.

endofthelinefinally · 08/04/2021 09:41

This has been around for ages. These telephone scams have proliferated during lockdown because so many people are at home. The email scams are the same. My spam folder is filling up much faster. The DPD emails come in several times a day.

ShanghaiDiva · 08/04/2021 09:42

I have had this call and I pressed one to see what would happen next. A woman with a very strong Indian accent told me I owed money for the tax year 2018 to 2020. I queried the date and said which year as the year runs for one year, not two. She hesitated and said ‘both’. When she told me the amount owing I asked if this was for one year or both years. She then got very angry, told me I was being very rude as I interrupted her and hung up!
I emailed all the info and telephone number to HMRC phishing dept. Doubt anyone would be fooled by the woman who called me as she was poorly ‘trained’ but these fraudsters are absolute scum.

GraduallyWatermelon · 08/04/2021 09:46

Doubt anyone would be fooled by the woman who called me as she was poorly ‘trained

The thing is, the scammers aren't looking for those they can dupe once. They are looking for vulnerable, "gullible" people, so they have these poorly executed scams as a mechanism to weed out those less trusting and more savvy about scams. Its all carefully planned and more deliberate than we realise.

WestendVBroadway · 08/04/2021 09:55

I am always amused when people get worried about a recorded massage saying that " You are under investigation for something/ You have done/not done something." If they don't address you by your name it is obviously a scam. 3 people live in my house, how would they know which 'you' has answered the phone?

duvetdreaming · 08/04/2021 10:26

I am always amused when people get worried about a recorded massage

I'd be a bit bothered by a recorded massage to be honest, I'm not to sure what it would entail.

I laughed about seeing the police afterwards but it came at a time when I was struggling with an imminent bereavement and anything would have made me feel awkward. Looking back it was a funny coincidence.

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