Tax credit claimants warned about scammers posing as HMRC

People are being warned against scammers posing as HMRC

Tax credit claimants are being warned to be on their guard against scammers posing as HM Revenue and Customs.

About 2.1 million people are expected to renew their annual claims by the end of next month.

Typical scam examples include phone calls threatening arrest if a fictitious tax isn’t paid and claims National Insurance numbers have been used fraudulently.

Emails or texts are often also sent offering bogus tax rebates, fake grants or claiming that a direct debit has failed.

In the 12 months, to April 2022, HMRC responded to nearly 277,000 referrals of suspicious contact received from the public.

HMRC has said it will never ring anyone out of the blue threatening arrest.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We’re urging all of our customers to be really careful if they are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or bank details.

“There are a lot of scams out there where fraudsters are calling, texting or emailing customers claiming to be from HMRC. If you have any doubts, we suggest you don’t reply directly, and contact us straight away. Search GOV.UK for our ‘scams checklist’ and to find out ‘how to report tax scams’.”

HMRC does not charge tax credits customers to renew their annual claims and is also urging them to be alert to misleading websites or adverts designed to make them pay for government services that should be free, often charging for a connection to HMRC phone helplines.

Customers can renew their tax credits, and inform HMRC of a change in circumstances, for free via GOV.UK or the HMRC app and are advised to search GOV.UK to get the genuine information and guidance.

Tax credits are ending and will be replaced by Universal Credit by the end of 2024.

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