It is reported that scammers pretending to be from HMRC, and chasing outstanding tax were very active in North Dorset yesterday.
All calls were to landlines, and the people making the calls knew the name of the account holder.
After announcing that they were from HMRC, they typically asked the person they were calling to confirm their identity - by stating their date of birth and NI number - which some people did......very pushy after that, and in many cases, requested that the liability be settle by way of vouchers (e.g. one person asked to settle by way of £1,000 in i tunes vouchers).
Top tip: as HMRC do chase taxpayers for outstanding liabilities by phone and they often use collection agents who use their own mobile phone numbers it is difficult to tell who is a scammer and who is not. Do not give out confirmation of your ID and only make payment into HMRC's own bank account, this is available online.
