Controls prevent phone fraudsters spoofing HMRC

New defensive controls deployed by HMRC have stopped fraudsters spoofing its most recognisable helpline numbers. Last year HMRC received more than 100 000 phone scam reports. 

The scam worked as taxpayers would receive calls and on checking the numbers online would find they appeared to belong to HMRC. This often led people to believe fake calls were real and enabled fraud.

The new controls created with the telecommunications industry and Ofcom will prevent spoofing of HMRC’s most used inbound helpline numbers and are the first to be used by a government department in the UK. Since it began using them in April the tax authority is already receiving 25% fewer scam reports against the previous month.

The department reaffirms that it will never contact a taxpayer out of the blue to ask for their PIN password or bank details. It advises taxpayers to forward details of suspicious...