HM REVENUE and Customs (HMRC) has made a breakthrough in the fight to stop fraudsters who scam their victims by pretending to be tax officers.

These criminals have increasingly mimicked legitimate HMRC helpline numbers – often beginning with 0300 – in order to dupe taxpayers and steal money.

Last year alone, HMRC received 104,000 phone scam reports – in 2017 there were only 7,000 reports of such scams.

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This type of scam was successful because taxpayers would receive calls and, on checking the numbers online, would find they appeared to belong to HMRC, leading people to believe fake calls were real.

This trick is called ‘spoofing’, but new controls created by HMRC and telecoms firms will now prevent the spoofing of HMRC’s most-used numbers.

“This is a huge step forward in the fight against phone fraud,” Jesse Norman, financial secretary to the Treasury, said.

“HMRC’s new controls will help to protect thousands of hardworking taxpayers and their families from these heartless criminals.

“Vigilance will always be important but this is a significant blow to the phone cheats.”

Criminals often target the elderly and vulnerable using HMRC’s brand as it is well-known and adds credibility to a fraudster’s call, though this will now be significantly harder to do.

HMRC will only ever call you asking for payment on a debt that you are already aware of – either having received a letter about it, or after you’ve told HMRC you owe some tax, for example through a Self-Assessment return.

Changes the department makes this month also mean you will never have to read aloud your card details to an operator.

If anyone is ever in doubt about who they are speaking to, check the number and end the call. You can contact HMRC using one of the helpline numbers or online services available from GOV.UK

Action Fraud boss Pauline Smith said: “It is encouraging to see that these newly developed controls by HMRC have already achieved a reduction in the number of calls spoofing genuine HMRC numbers.

“If you believe you have fallen victim to a fraudster, please report it to Action Fraud.”

HMRC advice for avoiding phone scams:

  • Recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or bank details.
  • Stay safe - don’t give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you weren’t expecting.
  • Take action - forward details of suspicious calls claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599, or contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online fraud reporting tool if you suffer financial loss.