Be careful
People across the UK are being warned about aggressive phone scammers claiming to be from the tax office demanding sums of money.
CPR Call Blocker, makers of the best selling call blocking device in the UK, is urging the UK public hang up if someone claiming to be from the tax office calls or leaves a message claiming you must call back or risk facing legal action.
It follows reports of a similar scam in Australia where scammers claiming to be from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) were calling people and demanding sums of money be paid or risk facing a warrant for their arrest.
The scam that has been reported to CPR Call Blocker involves an automated message telling the recipient they owe tax and face legal action. They are then promoted to press a number to speak to someone to make a payment on their unpaid tax or face a lawsuit. Some calls have also told people to get in touch with a solicitor as they could be facing serious legal problems if they don’t pay immediately.
Bryony Hipkin from CPR Call Blocker is urging the public to simply put the phone down to unsolicited callers: “What we often see with phone scams is that they can quickly spread across the globe as scammers see what is working well in other places. After the large sums of money that have been lost in Australia to the recent ATO scam, it isn’t surprising to hear from our customers that a similar scam is now doing the rounds over here. So it’s sensible for people all across the UK to be on their guard.
“The manner of these calls are both intimidating and threatening. These are classic tactics often used by scammers to try to bully members of the public and this can often make people panic and pay without thinking the process through first.
“We would always strongly recommend never paying something over the phone that you are unsure of. Especially in cases like this, where the call you receive is the first time you have heard of any payment that needs to be made.
“One of the best ways to protect yourself is to register on the Telephone Preference Service and purchase a call blocker device such as a CPR Call Blocker which simply plugs into any landline and features a ‘Block Now’ button which ends an unwanted call and permanently blocks the number. They come pre-programmed with up to 2,000 known nuisance callers and have the ability to store up to an additional 5,000 numbers.”
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