Badenoch and Strathspey targeted in 'HMRC' scam
A host of residents in the strath were targeted by a sophisticated scam yesterday claiming to be the taxman calling for money owed.
A number of people across the Badenoch and Strathspey area received telephone calls from the Manchester area with a 0161 code with the culprits pretending to be from HMRC.
They were warned that if they did not pay the money in voucher form then they would face a massive tax bill and arrest for not paying their so-called debt.
An Aviemore man, who did not want to be named, told the Strathy that the ruse was well executed and some people could fall for it if not on their guard.
He wanted to share his experience so that others will be weary if they get a call from someone claiming to be from HMRC and asking for payments in iTunes vouchers.
He said: "At 2pm yesterday I answered a call on my home phone and heard a recorded message from a well-spoken female saying that HMRC had been trying to contact me on an urgent matter and that I should press one on my keypad to talk to my case officer.
"Given that I have dealings with HMRC I did so to be connected to a foreign sounding male individual who gave me my name and address.
"I confirmed this and the individual went on to ask other questions in order that he could open the file. I did not answer these questions, however, he said that he had found a way round this and managed to open the file.
"He then went on to tell me that his name was Mr James Parker and that his employee number was HM2321. He added that the case number was C200.
"The information that he then gave me was that HMRC had written to me twice but that both letters had been returned by Royal Mail and the case had therefore been referred to the courts.
"Their issue was that HMRC could not be expected to look at all of the thousands of individual cases they had, however, my case had been brought to the fore during a random sampling of these cases.
"He quoted a series of regulations under which he said that during the period from 1995 to 2013 I had made errors in my returns which showed an underpayment of £687.
"He said that on the basis that I had not responded to HMRC then this would be looked on as fraud and that this would be a matter for the courts.
"He pointed out that if the matter was decided in court and I lost then the accumulated tax outstanding along with penalties, interest and costs would be around £46,000.
"Following that he said that there was a once only opportunity to settle this matter out of court if I could pay the £687 today.
"I went along with him to see how this would pan out by saying that I would be happy to pay the money in order to keep the matter out of court.
"He informed me at this point that the call was being recorded and that if I hung up then this would be taken as notice that I was refusing to pay the £687 and the matter would go straight to the court and that all of my bank accounts would be frozen and that there would seize my assets.
"I assured him that I did not want this to happen and asked how he would like me to pay. He said that he could not take payment over the ‘phone by debit or credit card or accept payment by cheque.
"He said that I had to go to the "government store" and buy vouchers then call him back and give him the voucher numbers to prove that I had paid.
"He then said that he had just checked where the nearest "government store" was and that it was in Aberdeen. He said that because this was so far away from where I lived he would check with his legal department to see if I could buy vouchers at a non-government store.
"He left me hanging for a while then came back and said that I could go to the ‘non-government store’ the closest of which was WH Smith in Aviemore beside the train station.
"He said that I should buy £700 of iTunes vouchers then call him back and give him the voucher numbers to prove that I had paid the sum outstanding. He said that I should buy £700 of vouchers because they came in £25 denominations.
"He went on to say that the process thereafter would be that he would delegate an officer of HMRC to come to my house between 6pm and 7pm and that he would provide me with all of the documentation which had caused HMRC to determine that I owed the £687.
"I would also be given a refund of the overpayment and a letter saying that all of the liabilities I had to HMRC had been satisfied.
"I went along with this and told him that I was going to WH Smith right away. He said that this all had to be done by 5pm and that I should call him back on 0203 389 8330.
"He said that when I was buying the iTunes vouchers at WH Smith I should not say that this was for a business purpose or to pay tax as WH Smith were only allowed to sell these vouchers for private use.
"If asked I therefore had to say that they were for private use. I confirmed this to him and said I was off to WH Smith.
"However, I then went to the police station and reported the matter. I was told there that I was the second person to report the same matter that day.
"Later in the evening the house ‘phone rang and my wife picked it up to be told by the same foreign sounding Mr James Parker that he must speak to me.
"I took the call to be told that as I had not paid the money all of my assets would be seized and my bank accounts would be frozen and that the police would be around later in the evening to arrest me.
"I told him that I had already been to the police to inform them of the call and he immediately hung up."
Other locals have reported on local social media to receiving similar calls from the same 0161 number.
Police have warned locals to be on their guard, not to give their bank account details or buy vouchers and to hang up if they have any doubts about how genuine a phone call is.
