possible scam letter from 'DWP'

anuketspirit

I received a letter on poor quality paper from the DWP in Nottingham, addressed to my address in Sheffield, with a Belfast postmark on the envelope!! The letter claims to be about a home visit from one Alison Pearson, and gives a Nottingham phone number and a mobile phone number. I have read about these letters where people claiming to be the DWP get your bank statements and financial details off you....the letter specifically asks for bank statements and all financial documents to be available for inspection during the visit. I am rather concerned the letter may be a hoax and some fake DWP worker will turn up at my house for this 'mandatory' interview. Any advice?

Guest101

It's fairly simple.


1: the DWP doesn't visit your home to see statement. The DWP may hire someone to keep an eye on claimants who they believe are fraudulent, but they hardly notify the person!


2: You never, ever have to let someone into your home, unless it is with a warrant, or the police have just arrested someone who was an occupant immediately before the arrest (there are a couple of obscure other points, but none apply to the DWP)

Adereterial

DWP paper is awful - most government departments use awful paper. A greyish beige with a slightly rough texture?

DWP doesn't always process things in the locality you are in. Nottingham processing Sheffield doesn't seem out of the ordinary. All undelivered mail goes to a sorting office in Belfast, they have a mail processing service there.

And they do undertake home visits of this nature, just not very often.

Does the letter have your NI on it?

If you're concerned, Google the benefits enquiry line & give them a call - they should be able to confirm.

tomtontom

The DWP do home visits, part of which may be to check paperwork. You don't have to let them in, but failure to do so may result in your benefits being stopped.

Call the JCP on a verified number, or visit your local office. They will be able to verify the letter as genuine or not.

(I'd agree on the paper - this suggests to me it is genuine!)

TELLIT01

The poor quality paper was the thing which immediately made me think it's probably genuine too. Home visits most definitely do happen, but as advised above I would contact your local Job Centre to check it out.

Jess12

I think they use recycled paper to save costs. But the quality ain't great, that I agree! I would phone up DWP and just check to make sure all is what is seems. Better safe then sorry.

pmlindyloo

This link may be helpful

https://www.gov.uk/dwp-visit

Xikams

anuketspirit wrote: »

I received a letter on poor quality paper from the DWP in Nottingham, addressed to my address in Sheffield, with a Belfast postmark on the envelope!! The letter claims to be about a home visit from one Alison Pearson, and gives a Nottingham phone number and a mobile phone number. I have read about these letters where people claiming to be the DWP get your bank statements and financial details off you....the letter specifically asks for bank statements and all financial documents to be available for inspection during the visit. I am rather concerned the letter may be a hoax and some fake DWP worker will turn up at my house for this 'mandatory' interview. Any advice?

Much of paper is now recycled in the UK, it isn't necessarily recognisable. For non-UC claims, letters may have a particular tint - they are phasing this out in UC (Universal Credit) where the pages and letters are just normal. The address may not correspond to your area either for either UC or non-UC claims.

Fraudsters will not tend to 'meet' you in person after writing a generic letter to you - they are more likely to show up on the spot and rip you off. There was a big thing about pensioners being ripped off some years back by fraudsters posing as tradespeople and getting them to hand cash over for problems which didn't exist. Online scams about the DWP are also very popular, but you can tell them instantly by looking at their poor English or by looking at the domain of the sender which is clearly not a .gov extension.

Your best advice is to go to the directgov website, crawl through the options and find the advisor you need, and talk to them direct so you can verify the authenticity of the appointment. Things are moving over to UC now, so you may get passed around a bit. Don't use the number on the letter if you are curious or pedantic about it. And well done for having a brain and being suspicious.

shortcrust

Yep, fraudsters don't give you advanced warning that they're going to visit your house to scam you. As others have said, give DWP a call to give you peace of mind. If you don't want them in your house might they be ok with you taking the info into their office?

fewgroats

And the DWP is based in Belfast.