The Department for Work and Pensions has stated that a letter that has gone viral on Twitter and seems to be false is really legitimate.
The receiver of the letter from the DWP was informed of a “compliance telephone interview” and warned that their benefits would cease if they did not answer the call.
The letter was sent on Twitter by Steph from Glasgow, who said it was a fraud and that her grandma “nearly fell for it.”
Everyone commented on how genuine the letter seemed, but Steph found it odd that there was no National Insurance number. The post was retweeted hundreds of times.
The request in the letter for the receiver to have papers like bank statements and pay stubs available for the conversation also caused her anxiety.
However, the DWP has verified its authenticity and noted that a letter of this kind often does not contain the recipient’s National Insurance number.
A representative said that the given phone number belongs to one of their compliance officials, who has received a deluge of calls ever since the Tweet went viral yesterday night.
Nevertheless, the Department persisted in urging individuals to “always secure your personal information” and to “be fraud vigilant.”
Never provide your personal information if anything sounds fishy, a spokeswoman said.
Contact Universal Credit immediately at the official number you may find online if you have any doubts.
The DWP may request identification, such as a passport, but it will always record a note in the claimant’s Universal Credit journal to confirm their identity.
The Department recommended consumers who believe they have been duped to notify Action Fraud since “information might be utilised by criminals to perpetrate benefit and other fraud.”
According to The Daily Mail, more than 40 million people in the UK — or almost three in four — were the victim of a fraudster in the first six months of the year, making Britain the fraud capital of the globe.
Earlier this month, fraud specialists issued a warning that the con artists behind the WhatsApp scam known as “Hi Mum, Hi Dad” are now primarily targeting victims via text messages.
Between February 3 and June 21, Action Fraud received 1,235 complaints of ‘Hi Mum’ and ‘Hi Dad’ WhatsApp scams, which defrauded Britons of £1.5 million in only six months.
In order to trick victims into replying and thinking they are messaging their son or daughter, the scam commonly starts with a WhatsApp message that says “Hi Mum” or “Hi Dad” before requesting them to pay money.
But according to Chris Ainsley, director of fraud risk management at Santander UK, similar frauds are now now showing up on other messaging platforms, despite historically starting on WhatsApp.
We saw a large uptick in bogus WhatsApp messages purporting to be sent by people’s children, he said.
“That is still going on.” In the last month, it has ramped back up, and now we see it on “conventional” SMS or text messages in addition to WhatsApp.
Toni Parker, a 53-year-old nurse, lost £2,450 when a con artist pretended to be her son and demanded money after saying he had dropped his phone into the toilet.
Angela Briscoe, a 66-year-old retiree, said last month that she lost over £10,000 to the fraud and was only able to retrieve half of it via the bank.
Mr. Ainsley asserts that this con has become more complicated. He cautions that victims are being tricked into giving money to friends and family members before it reaches the scammer.
University students’ parents are advised to use extra caution when their children return to living away from home in the fall.
Graeme Biggar, who was appointed director general of the National Crime Agency on Friday, has vowed to take on the “increasing issue” of fraud.
One of the most popular scams is remains the fake package delivery SMS, which were especially prevalent during the epidemic when more people were purchasing online.
Typically, recipients are led to an online form where they may provide their information in exchange for a small price or shipping cost for the delivery of an item.
However, the websites are fictitious and were created by thieves in order to gather their victims’ personal information, which they may then use to steal additional money.
This might entail pretending to be your bank in order to con you into giving up your funds or stealing your identity in order to take out loans in your name.
Fraud factories run by professional criminals quickly and in mass quantities send phishing messages to unrelated cellphone phones. They incur few expenses but generate hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue annually from victims.
These fraudulent communications might take many different forms. Additionally, it is a danger that is continuously changing since criminals are skilled at staying current on news events like the growing cost of energy bills.
The number of authorised push payment (APP) frauds, which happen when you send money from your own bank account to a con artist’s, increased significantly in 2017.
According to statistics from the banking industry organisation UK Finance, the amount lost through APP fraud reached £583.2million in 2021, a 39% rise from 2020.
Impersonation schemes, in which thieves pose as representatives of a reputable company or organisation, such the NHS or a government agency, in order to dupe victims into transferring their money, accounted for close to 40% of APP fraud losses.
The City of London Police’s Detective Chief Superintendent Becky Riggs said: “Unfortunately, criminals will take advantage of any chance to con victims into giving them access to their financial and personal information.
The information may be obtained by thieves using phishing mails, which they will use to perpetrate fraud.
“Take a minute to pause and consider if you get a message asking for your personal information from a source you recognise.
To determine if the message you have received is genuine, check directly with the organisation in issue. It’s okay to question anything if it seems off.