| Vigilant | 25 Oct 2017 8:01 a.m. PST |
I know, not wargaming, but I figured this was the best method to warn people of an attempted phone scam I got today. The call was from and 0161 number and was a recorded message claiming to be from HM Revenue and Customs stating that I (without mentioning my name) was being prosecuted (no mention of for what) and needed to ring the given number immediately as this was my last warning. Having worked for HMRC for 32 years I knew that this was not how they work, so it was clearly a scam. The voice was also a computer generated female voice. I checked HMRC's website and confirmed that this is a known scam to get people to hand over money or bank details. You might want to warn friends and family. Especially the elderly or vulnerable. HMRC don't use automated calling or e-mail to contact you, and you will always get written notification of any enquiry into your tax affairs, so don't get taken in. Stephen |
| Darrell B D Day | 25 Oct 2017 8:16 a.m. PST |
Stephen – well done for flagging this up. Personally, I never respond to any unexpected phone call but vigilance can sometimes be lacking for anyone. It only takes one unguarded response to one of these scams to give a lot of grief so it does no harm to constantly warn people and this one in particular could easily catch people out. Thanks for your post. DBDD |
Ed Mohrmann  | 25 Oct 2017 8:38 a.m. PST |
Same thing has been going on in the USA for a couple
years, caller claiming to be from the IRS. Wonder if it's the same people responsible ? |
| Joes Shop | 25 Oct 2017 8:38 a.m. PST |
Same type of scam is going on here in the US: computer generated female voice stating the person called is being prosecuted by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). |
| PJ ONeill | 25 Oct 2017 8:43 a.m. PST |
One of the ways this scam had been going in the US is to induce the target to call a number that will charge a cost to your phone bill without having you agree to anything. |
| DColtman | 25 Oct 2017 8:48 a.m. PST |
Same thing has been running in Canada too. |
| korsun0 | 25 Oct 2017 9:17 a.m. PST |
Happens in Oz as well, it is based in Romania apparently and uses same technique world wide. I actually rang them back once and had a ball with the heavily accented muppet on the other end until he hung up. But as the OP states it is those who are vulnerable through age or lack of awareness who need to be warned. |
| Hafen von Schlockenberg | 25 Oct 2017 9:28 a.m. PST |
We were discussing this over here last year: TMP link As you'll see from the links,it can be dangerous to bait them,so I'd recommend against it,great though the temptation may be. If it's new in your country,things may not yet have escalated to swatting, but they will. In the US, they seem to have moved on to fake kidnapping calls: link |
| Greg G1 | 25 Oct 2017 11:48 a.m. PST |
Had these muppets phone me, reported it to HMRC fraud squad. However it was a nightmare trying to get through to the HMRC fraud squad. |
GildasFacit  | 25 Oct 2017 12:02 p.m. PST |
At least it would make a change from double glazing, new kitchens and boiler replacements. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 25 Oct 2017 6:08 p.m. PST |
This has happened to me every year for about four years. It always starts in the middle of a sentence: "WILL be prosecuted. There will be no other notice …" It's always an automated female voice. |
| Old Wolfman | 26 Oct 2017 6:51 a.m. PST |
Got one of those one year,took down the info from the voice-mail message,and passed it on to IRS-TIGTA section. |
experiments with Finger Drills.