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Fraudulent claims for UC - a new scam?
We have now had reports of two fraudulent claims for UC using identity theft and anecdotal evidence of one other. The claims all seem to have been made in the last month or so and ,for the two we have details about, the first the claimant knew about it was when HB and Tax Creds stopped. This is not the ‘old’ UC scam where people were persuaded to hand over personal info, in these cases the claimant had not spoken to anyone about UC nor did they need or want to make a UC claim.Bearing in mind how widespread the earlier UC scams were I was wondering if anyone else has seen similar cases and if they are on the increase?
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/16149/
We have now had reports of two fraudulent claims for UC using identity theft and anecdotal evidence of one other. The claims all seem to have been made in the last month or so and ,for the two we have details about, the first the claimant knew about it was when HB and Tax Creds stopped. This is not the ‘old’ UC scam where people were persuaded to hand over personal info, in these cases the claimant had not spoken to anyone about UC nor did they need or want to make a UC claim.Bearing in mind how widespread the earlier UC scams were I was wondering if anyone else has seen similar cases and if they are on the increase?
Yes we’re come across 3 cases like this in the past week.
Legacy DWP benefits were reinstated by escalating cases to partnership manager.
Yes we’ve had about 3 too - having never had any. Partnership manager also said anecdotally that there’d been loads.
tbidmead - how long did that take? Did that include tax credit reinstatement?
Yes we’ve had about 3 too - having never had any. Partnership manager also said anecdotally that there’d been loads.
tbidmead - how long did that take? Did that include tax credit reinstatement?
Very quick - 2 days from raising I think? Just DWP benefits in that case. I see from comments elsewhere on R’net that HMRC may be a bit more difficult…
Thank you - that’s helpful. Yes I think 2 of our 3 have tax credits involved :(
Think we have 1 too.
I have seen 1 in last week which DWP have accepted as fraud that client had no part in and have reinstated legacy benefits
I have seen 1 in last week which DWP have accepted as fraud that client had no part in and have reinstated legacy benefits
Did that include tax Credits? -if so how did you manage it?
I have seen 1 in last week which DWP have accepted as fraud that client had no part in and have reinstated legacy benefits
Did that include tax Credits? -if so how did you manage it?
We’ve just had one involving TC’s so would be very interested to know too….
Pete and Sally the extract below from colleague doesn’t answer your question directly but might be a route to consider pursuing to avoid getting bogged down at a lower level.
Its an extract from a feedback email to our client Cced to us from our MP’s office (we then forwarded crime ref number obtained by cl to MP).
Dear Mrs D Cummings
‘Further to our email correspondence, I have now spoken to the MP Helpline and they really do need a crime number from the Police. Is it possible for you to go to the Police and ask them? If they cannot give you a specific number, please ask to be put forward to Action Fraud. Once you have that number, then the case can go forward to the Stopping Tax Credit team for reinstatement of your tax credit.
I understand that they have seen a spike in numbers of fraudulent claims for UC in the past couple of weeks’.
Pete and Sally the extract below from colleague doesn’t answer your question directly but might be a route to consider pursuing to avoid getting bogged down at a lower level.
Its an extract from a feedback email to our client Cced to us from our MP’s office (we then forwarded crime ref number obtained by cl to MP).
Dear Mrs D Cummings
‘Further to our email correspondence, I have now spoken to the MP Helpline and they really do need a crime number from the Police. Is it possible for you to go to the Police and ask them? If they cannot give you a specific number, please ask to be put forward to Action Fraud. Once you have that number, then the case can go forward to the Stopping Tax Credit team for reinstatement of your tax credit.
I understand that they have seen a spike in numbers of fraudulent claims for UC in the past couple of weeks’.
Mrs D Cummings? ;-)
Anyway our DWP Partnership Manager signposted to the “UC Risk Review Team” (0800 169 0347) who she said are dealing with these cases and can initiate reinstatement of legacy if satisfied no fraud on claimant’s part. Hung on for 55 mins, cut off, ecalated backto DWP Partnership Manager who escalated to someone at JCP. Watch this space!
Only today, I spoke to a client who has had 3 UC claims made using his identity. One of these claims was a joint claim with the clients partner, and one of the other claims was apparently successful and led to WTC and CTC being stopped, with an alleged overpayment. The matter is still under investigation.
Strangely, the client also received a letter from HMRC self-assessment team, informing him that someone had attempted to create a self-assessment account using his identity. (Cl is employed f/t and is subject to PAYE.) The letter explains that he has sustained no financial loss, and signposts him to sources of advice on preventing identity theft. I am struggling to work out the motives of someone who tries to open a fraudulent SA account, and what they hope to gain by it.
It’s a fairly unsophisticated fraud attempt not dissimilar to spam emails. You scale up to thousands/millions but you only need 1 or 2 to fall for it and you’re in the money.
So, you have stolen ID and create a SA account. In most cases the ID you have stolen won’t be self-employed but you just need one who is. Out of those you just need them to respond to one spam email or text purporting to come from the SA team and you can capture all manner of financial detail.
I’m sure someone somewhere will have fallen for it. Anyone getting contact from HMRC saying that they have a self-assessment account with x details and who is actually self-employed might not give it a second thought.
I am struggling to work out the motives of someone who tries to open a fraudulent SA account, and what they hope to gain by it.
Possibly hoping to steal the SEISS grant. Would be nigh on impossible to succeed if the person already has an SA account, unless they have also managed to steal a lot of security info first. But there will be some s/e people who qualify for the grant who are still submitting paper tax returns and who could set up an online account to access the grant - that will be who the fraudster is after.
I’m glad to say that my cl’s HB has been restored, only leaves Tax Credits!
Thank you, Mike and Peter, for your explanations of possible motives for the scam.
Ruth