A reporter was phoned by a fraudster claiming to be from HMRC London and he managed to record the call.


If you receive calls claiming you are wanted by the police or HMRC and you need to pay treat it as a potential fraud call and don't give any real details.


The National Crime Agency says there's been "an explosion" in this type of impersonation fraud - when criminals spoof phone numbers to make it look like they're calling from genuine government departments, banks and insurance companies etc.



Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency's National Economic Crime Centre, says the UK needs "a step change in our response" to fraud.

It costs the economy up to £190bn each year.

Phone companies say they are committed to taking action over nuisance calls.

Mr Biggar says there has been an "explosion" in the number of criminals spoofing phone numbers in the past 12 months.

"Phone companies have been used for fraud since they've been invented and it's a constant arms race to stop vulnerabilities and then stop them.


"With HMRC scams alone, more than 2,700 numbers have been taken out of circulation after they've been reported, but there is definitely a lot more that the phone companies need to do and can do."

His comments are backed up by a recent report from industry body UK Finance, which suggests the number of reported cases of impersonation fraud - including spoof calls - last year nearly doubled to 40,000.

However, the real figure is likely to be much higher, because many victims won't report fraud to their bank or building society, or even tell their family or friends, because of feelings of embarrassment or guilt.


What is number spoofing?


Ofcom, (UK's communications watchdog) describes number spoofing as people who deliberately change the telephone number and the name that is displayed as the Caller ID information.

"They do this to either hide their identity or to try to mimic the number of a real company or person who has nothing to do with the real caller," explains Ofcom on its website.

"For example, identity thieves who want to steal sensitive information such as your bank account or login details, sometimes use spoofing to pretend they're calling from your bank or credit card company."


#fraudster
#Scam
#HMRC
#impersonation
#spoofing

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