HM Revenue and Customs says it has saved the public £2.4 million by tackling fraudsters who direct the public to premium rate phone numbers for services that it provides for free.
Scammers create websites that look similar to HMRC’s official site and then direct the public to high cost call numbers.
These sites advertise premium rate phone numbers as a means of reaching HMRC but they are only call forwarding services which connect callers to the official websites at a significant price.
In other cases, sites charge for forwarding information to HMRC which can be provided free of charge through hmrc.gov.uk
HMRC’s own 0300 numbers for its websites are mostly free or charged at the national landline rate.
Treasury Minister Mel Stride said: “We know that HMRC is the most spoofed government brand as criminals try to take advantage of the fact that everyone has some involvement with the tax authority.
“This is a brazen con, charging premium rates whilst simply redirecting calls to the real HMRC numbers that are available at low or no cost.
“It is a testament to the hard work of HMRC that they have prevented criminals extracting £2.4m from the public.”
Consumer Minister Andrew Griffiths said: “Anyone can fall victim to scams and the cost can be devastating, so it’s great to see HMRC cracking down on these bogus websites and protecting the public’s purse.”
HMRC released the figure at the start of scam awareness month organised by Citizens Advice.
Consumers should go directly to gov.uk to obtain genuine HMRC contact numbers, which will not be premium rate.
People should be alert for sponsored adverts, websites charging for government services which would be expected to be free and those with disclaimers denying association with HMRC or government.
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