Universal Tax Credits Scam

Caz3121

JohnAllan wrote: »

She thought she was getting some free money.

received £1525, paid £1200 to the scammer and kept £325 as her 'free money' - has she returned the free money to DWP? if not does she plan to do so?

[Deleted User]

Im not an unsympathetic person but my patience is wearing a little thin with the victims of "scammers", if it sounds too good to be true, looks too good to be true, and smells too good be true, guess what? It is too good to be true.

tomtom256

Free money, who ever heard of such a thing.

You work to get money.
Claim benefits to get money.
Take out a loan to get money.
Inheritence you get money.

Only one of the above gives you free money.

JohnAllan

This post isn't an invitation to shame a vunerable person. Lessons have been learned. We're looking for the next best action to take.

sportsarb

JohnAllan wrote: »

This post isn't an invitation to shame a vunerable person. Lessons have been learned. We're looking for the next best action to take.

My best advice is just to ignore the people that don't just give the advice requested. Its the nature of the internet to !!!! on anyone in order to feel superior to them because of course, those people are perfect and never made a mistake in their lives.

I wish you the best of luck in getting this sorted.

Caz3121

JohnAllan wrote: »

This post isn't an invitation to shame a vunerable person. Lessons have been learned. We're looking for the next best action to take.

has she paid back the £325 that she kept yet? - by keeping it I suspect she would be classed as complicit to the fraud as she will have gained financially.
what steps are being taken against the 'friend' to get the £1200 returned?

poppasmurf_bewdley

JohnAllan wrote: »

Hello,

On the 12th September 2019 my partner was scammed by a ‘friend’ of a friend and I am seeking some help for her.

She was was promised a ‘free’ sum of money. All she had to do was provide some personal details and follow a few instructions. This scam has recently been in the british news.

Shortly after confirming her identity on Post Office website she was credited with £1525 into her bank account.

With no understanding where this money had come from, the scammer then insisted that she sent him £1200 as a fee.

Quite scared and mislead, she followed the instructions and was left with a few hundred pounds.

After I looked into this, I uncovered it was a scam. The scammer will apply for ‘Universal Tax Credits’ on behalf of the victim.

The scammer inputted false information on gov.uk on her behalf. In this case that my partner was unemployed, had three children, two of them disabled, one blind, and expense rent. None of which is true.

The scammer then applies for a ‘Cash Advance’ and re-routes most of the money back to themselves, claiming it to be a ‘finders fee’. I managed to log into gov.uk and see what had been set up.

After the identity theft and benefit fraud has been committed, the scammer fails to tell the victim that the cash advance MUST be repaid. Normally it will be taken from your monthly allowance of credits. But that’s only if you attend and pass the interview proving your circumstances.

The first time any victim of this scam will know about what’s been set up in their name is when the DWP write to you asking to repay it back.

My partner has just received her 1st letter from DWP and I will detail the attempts to resolve this below. I hope there is someone out there who can advise on who to contact to get this sorted.

1. As soon as we realised this was a scam back in September we contacted the bank. They put a block on her account and also the scammers.

2. We also immediately contacted Universal Tax Credits and explained the situation. They took notes and booked us an appointment at the Job Centre so we could provide evidence.

3. 2 weeks later we arrive at the Job Centre to find out that they can’t do anything about it and they were confused as to why we’d been sent there. What they were able to do though is cancel the credits and close the claim. They told us to wait for DWP to write to us, then we’ll be able to provide evidence and get this revoked.

What surprised me though was that the whole Job Centre was decorated with posters and flyers referring to this exact scam, BEWARE! however the staff did not have any procedures in place for the victims. They also told us to contact ‘Action Fraud’ an online service to report scams and fraud.

4. Action Fraud’s response to the scam was along the lines of “because no company has suffered a financial loss we don’t deem this to be a criminal matter”. O...K....

5. We wait and receive the 1st debt collection letter directly from DWP today. We try to ring and wait over an hour to get spoken to. The friendly lady explained that they only 'issue the advance', and we’d have to contact Universal Credits to have them take my partners name off the debt and then DWP will just go about recovering it from UC.

6. So, we contact Universal Tax Credits, today, as instructed. They don’t have any options for us and tell my partner she has to pay it back, and there’s no way around it. Not helpful in the slightest!

So we’ve been bounced from pillar to post trying to get this sorted.

Should we ring the police?

Should we just wait for DWP to issue a debt collection agency and then provide them with the evidence?

Should we write / email any of the above companies with the collected evidence?

We have text message screenshots, numbers and names.

Thank you for any help!

John

No, the first anyone will know about this is when the money hits their bank account.

JohnAllan wrote: »

It was a friend of a friend who did the scam. The friend betrayed her as he seemed to know about it too as it's came to the surface.

She thought she was getting some free money.

Where did she think this 'free money' was coming from? Does anyone really believe there is such a thing?

JohnAllan

The money simply isn't just 'paid back'. It would normally get taken from the supposed monthly tax credits, which are not going to be approved as an interview won't be taking place. Tha accounts been closed and not the DWP want their advance back directly from the claimant indtead of through UC. The extra money my partner obtained is being held and ready to return when we have more information. Right now an internal investigation is underway with the benefit fraud department of UC. As my partner can prove she was mislead, hopefully she will not have to pay the full amount back with the evidence she can provide. The parliament link above and the text that came with it explains this and puts hope in anyone going through the same thing.

calcotti

JohnAllan wrote: »

..It would normally get taken from the supposed monthly tax credits, ....the DWP want their advance back directly from the claimant indtead of through UC.

To avoid confusion please note that Tax Credits and Universal Credit are completely different benefits.

Spoonie_Turtle

JohnAllan wrote: »

The money simply isn't just 'paid back'. It would normally get taken from the supposed monthly tax credits, which are not going to be approved as an interview won't be taking place. Tha accounts been closed and not the DWP want their advance back directly from the claimant indtead of through UC. The extra money my partner obtained is being held and ready to return when we have more information. Right now an internal investigation is underway with the benefit fraud department of UC. As my partner can prove she was mislead, hopefully she will not have to pay the full amount back with the evidence she can provide. The parliament link above and the text that came with it explains this and puts hope in anyone going through the same thing.

I do not understand. Your partner received money to which she was not entitled, in part due to her own actions, yet doesn't want to pay it all back? If the DWP were selling to recover the full £1000+ from her then it would be an entirely different matter and understandable - she can't pay money back that she doesn't have - but she still has the ~£300 so I don't see the problem :huh: Whether it comes out of future benefits (Universal Credit) or as a lump sum, the principle is still the same.