Receiving a call and being told that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is building a case against you, and even issuing a warrant is likely to get most people worrying, but this is one of the latest methods being used by scammers Cifas, the UK’s fraud prevention service, has warned.

Lovemoney.com reports that HMRC has issued warnings after receiving reports about a phone scam where potential victims are told that there is an outstanding fraud case in their name.

Victims are told to press one on their keypad, with the scammer claiming this would connect them to an officer to discuss their case. The fraudsters can also falsely warn that if people don’t comply, a warrant will be issued for their arrest.

Cifas has warned the scam technique has been seen in various other ways, for example, scammers have purported to be calling from a supermarket, informing the individual that they need to speak to a member of their ‘fraud team’ about a large order which is due to be debited from their account.

In the event of any such similar phone scam, the public is being urged to hang up without pressing any buttons on their keypad.

“If you do press a button following the message then you will likely be connected to a criminal who will attempt to trick you out of your personal details,” the fraud prevention service’s alert stated.

“If you have provided your details in response to a scam call, report it to Action Fraud or Police Scotland,” Cifas said.

Those who receive scam calls purporting to be from HMRC can report the attempts on the GOV.UK website.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “If someone calls, emails or texts claiming to be from HMRC, saying that you can claim financial help, are due a tax refund or owe tax, or asks for bank or other personal details, it might be a scam.”

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