A number of Isle of Wight phone numbers have been targeted in an HMRC telephone scam.
The calls (regularly from an 0161 number) are reported to state that a warrant is out for the arrest of the person being called and they need to press ‘1’ to speak to their case officer.
Those savvy to these type of calls are able to deal with them easily, but there are concerns for older or vulnerable residents. According to reports on social media, the callers are often very rude and aggressive.
Advice from IWC
The Isle of Wight council also share this advice in relation to reports of HMRC scams
A member of our staff has received an email from HMRC saying that they are eligible to receive a refund directly to their debit or credit card. This is a scam, if you receive an email like this delete it straight away, do not click on any links and under no circumstances give your card details out.
If you have neighbours or relatives who may be at risk of this scam, please let them know.
Image: peddhapati under CC BY 2.0
