Homeowners have been warned not to fall for a malicious HMRC scam.

In the six months up to January the Revenue and Customs received 60,000 reports of phone scams involving its names, a 360 per cent increase from the six months before.

As HMRC has increasingly cracked down on email and SMS phishing, a rising number of criminals are turning to the traditional method of cold-calling publicly available phone numbers to steal money from taxpayers.

Often these calls are to landline numbers.

Phone scams often target the elderly and vulnerable using HMRC’s brand as it is well-known and adds credibility to a fraudster’s call.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride MP, said: "We have taken major steps to crackdown on text and email phishing scams leaving fraudsters no choice but to try and con taxpayers over the phone.

“If you receive a suspicious call to your landline from someone purporting to be from HMRC which threatens legal action, to put you in jail, or payment using vouchers: hang-up and report it to HMRC who can work to take them off the network.”

According to Ofcom, nearly 26 million homes have a landline many of which could be at risk from scams, especially if they are not ex-directory.

Pauline Smith, head of action fraud, said: “Fraudsters will call your landline claiming to be from reputable organisations such as HMRC. Contact like this is designed to convince you to hand over valuable personal details or your money.

“Don’t assume anyone who calls you is who they say they are. If a person calls and asks you to make a payment, log in to an online account or offers you a deal, be cautious and seek advice.”

The tax authority will only ever call you asking for payment on a debt that you are already aware of, either having received a letter about it, or after you’ve told us you owe some tax, for example through a Self-Assessment return.

During the last 12 months, HMRC has worked with the phone networks and Ofcom to close nearly 450 lines being used by fraudsters using boiler room tactics to steal money.

I know someone who could fall for this, what should I do?

  • If you know someone who has a landline, particularly those who may need protecting such as vulnerable relatives and neighbours, our advice is:
  • Recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or bank details.
  • Stay safe - don’t give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you weren’t expecting.
  • Take action - forward suspicious emails claiming and details of suspicious calls to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and texts to 60599, or contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online fraud reporting tool, especially if you suffer financial loss.
  • Check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scams and recognise genuine HMRC contact.