The letter is on HMRC’s usual paper and looks official. The letter states that it is being sent in response to correspondence received by the debt management resolution team and asks the recipient to quote their National Insurance number, HMRC reference number and address ‘to help you be dealt with more quickly’.
Phishing letters are commonplace nowadays but our immediate reaction can still be to assume that a letter like this is genuine but has been issued in error and needs a call to be resolved. Usually these letters advise you to ‘act immediately’, ‘make an urgent payment’ or even ‘claim your refund’. It would appear that the new format attempts to get you to provide your personal and tax information from the very outset.
If you receive any correspondence from HMRC which is unexpected, you can verify the authenticity by calling HMRC using the official number on their website. Alternatively, if you do not fancy being on hold for most of the day, call us! Our client called us to query the reason for this letter and we were able to confirm that it was a scam.
If you have any queries regarding potential scam letters and would like assistance, please contact Diane Nettleton on 01633 653167 or email diane.nettleton@kilsbywilliams.com
Alternatively, please contact your usual advisor on 01633 810081 or email info@kilsbywilliams.com
