Dodgy Phonecall from HM Customs & Revenue (Tax credits)

Krasnoludek

Hi

A guy called me yesterday saying he was from Revenue & Customs asking to verify the details of our claim or similar. We had a letter through a few weeks ago from an address in Preston saying we had to call them just to go through a few things which we did and they were more interested that they had all the correct childcare information as they were doing some sort of verification exercise where they were checking all claims which included childcare.

I explained to the really nice woman on the phone (when I rang up the address in Preston a few weeks ago) that I had been made redundant in March and as such my daughter was no longer at nursery, my older daughter wasnt attending holiday club so I wasnt claiming for childcare as I am out of work, she wasnt really interested when she found out I wasnt claiming any childcare and said thanks for calling anyway you have already completed your annual declaration so you wont be hearing from us now till next year and there is no problem with your claim, she said not to worry about the letter, it was worded to sound scary but it wasnt anything to worry about and I should rip it up and throw it in the bin (her words) so I did.

So this guy phones up yesterday mumbling something about a customer services exercise/detail verification exercise or the like and asks me and my husbands DOBs our kids DOBs and the name of our bank, he then asks us about childcare, I say we dont use any and he says we sent you a letter asking you to call us and you didnt, but I had, so he says oh ok I have all the information now there is no problem with your claim we are just doing some sort of exercise.

Has anyone else had this phone call I found it a bit disturbing - I dont like giving my details to some randomer over the phone, especially my childrens details given how good the HMRC are losing/giving away personal information.

I rang TC to ask about the phone call but was told all their systems are down at the moment and they cant tell if the caller was genuine or not. I am concerned that I have given away personal info to someone who may not be who they say they are

K x

[Deleted User]

As it is for you its the same for us,we dont know if it was a genuine call or not,I would suggest that if something like this happens to anyone and they arent sure if the call is genuine that they request the callers number(main switch)then calls them back.If they are genuine they wont object to this

Emmzi

woodbine wrote: »

As it is for you its the same for us,we dont know if it was a genuine call or not,I would suggest that if something like this happens to anyone and they arent sure if the call is genuine that they request the callers number(main switch)then calls them back.If they are genuine they wont object to this

Um, and check the number yourself before calling back on internet or similar - a fraudster will give you a dubious number and have their 'mate' pretend to be switchboard...

Krasnoludek

The number came up as with held on my moby, I was in the middle of a parent and toddler group with my year old daughter and could barely make out what he was saying, he did give his name but who's to say that was his name

hayley11

I would always suggest never giving any personal information out over the phone no matter who they are or where they say they are from. Always ring them back on a number you find either on their website or on a letter.

If you're still concerned, ring HMRC back and ask them to confirm if somebody rang you or not. Do they definitely have your mob number?

sinstar

HMRC are doing a few outbound campaigns at the moment, double checking information held in claims where they haven't heard from a claimant in a while, or checking the childcare costs of single parent households to make sure they are getting everything they are entitled to. They are also doing outbound renewal calls, to offer to complete your renewal over the phone.

When they make an outbound call they still have to go through full security with you and it is very awkward for them to explain who they are and why they are calling until they have taken you through security (eg. they call a number but someone else answers, they say "Hello I'm calling from Tax Credits!" and whoever has answered your phone now knows you are receiving tax credits, but you might not want anyone knowing that, and so on...)

If you aren't comfortable giving any of your details then just tell them, then call the usual helpline number. They might not have a note in the system that any of the above types of outbound calls have been made to you though. If it was some sort of emergency & they needed particular info from you asap then they would probably have a note of that.

Krasnoludek

Thank you for that its put my mind at rest

K x