TV Licence scam

I had one from a very authentic looking " licencing authority " telling me that as I am over 75 I must start paying for a licence again and asking for bank details, another scam.
They are very real looking and very clever. Hundreds must be taken in.
Pure scum in my opinion.

Just heard of another scam to be aware of.
Apparently small cash back amounts are being added to the total of your purchases at the till without your knowledge, in a variety of retail outlets.
Please always check the amount before signing anything or entering your pin!

Hi 1954, Can you go into 'junk' or 'spam' and block the address, so they can't contact you again? I know their associates may send again from different addresses, but it is very satisfying to cut them off when you can.
Good luck with this.

Yes I’ve had a couple, certainly didn’t fall for it and did the same in reporting it. I think there was a spelling mistake in mine as well, these people must think we’re stupid!

Gaunt47
Can you name the retail outlets?

Yes agree, please name the outlets..

Can you name the retail outlets?
I think she may have seen a general warning posted on social media: www.snopes.com/fact-check/cash-back-scam/

I didn't know about that web site. I know it has reported as happening at Sainsbury's.

I've had a couple of TV licence ones (I'm not the bill-payer for that one so it's clearly a scam) but the worst are the HMRC ones that tell you you've got quite a believable little rebate and to click on.. etc. I never do, but it's fairly convincing!

^Yes I’ve had a couple, certainly didn’t fall for it and did the same in reporting it. I think there was a spelling mistake in mine as well, these people must think we’re stupid!*
The poor spelling, grammar etc in scam emails is known as a "gullibility filter"; if the poor writing doesn't tell you that something's not right, then you're more likely to fall for the scam.

I get these all the time plus tax refunds and amazon ones. I forward them all to action fraud before deleting. I guess if only a few fall for it it’s worth their while. Shame they can’t use their brains for legitimate work

I've had tv licence ones,saying my licence expires on a certain date and won't be renewed unless I click onto a link.I know the date is wrong,and it says I have been missing payments,I have a payment card ,and my payments are up to date.I don't fall for any of these,but some people might.I had one supposedly from Virgin Media,my account was to be suspended,of course it hasn't.I'm still waiting to be arrested for tax fraud,I've had enough phone calls about it.

Gaunt47
Thanks for that I will start checking ?

My FIL is lucky as he is not on the internet and has no email he never gets these pesky spam messages. He only answers the telephone to known numbers so also avoids telephone as well. Makes you think but we are so reliant now on the internet.

I had one telling me my amazon prime was due, it was, but this one was a scam as my prime is auto renew. made me check it though

Officer Peter Smith keeps phoning me as apparently I owe her majestys revenue thousands of pounds and they need my details!!! They certainly won't be getting them.

I had the TV licence one. It looked so authentic. My husband insisted it was a scam so I didn't respond. Thank goodness and the payment went out by direct debut as it always does with no need for sending bank details or online form. Relieved. Only thing I now have one from Inland Revenue saying I am due a tax debate and I'm scared now to reply online to that. It too looks authentic. However it says if I don't reply, a cheque will be sent in three months as opposed to being put into my bank account in 5 working days - so am going to wait and see. Like the TV licence one it looks genuine. I know a few people who got the TV licence letter.

It really makes my blood boil. There must be many elderly, confused and vulnerable victims out there.

Ive had the tv licence scam emails too also HMRC tax refund ones
Why don't these b.... scammers get a proper job?
Really annoying

We had the tv licensing one yesterday. It came to my husband who never deals with any bills so we knew it was a scam.
My most worrying one was a phone call from HMRC saying a warrant had been issued for my arrest for failure to pay a tax bill. there were 3 calls all similar wording and quite concerning. The third time I did answer and asked why he'd rung and then he asked intimate questions and I hung up. All came from mobile numbers and he had a foreign accent.

This has been going on for well over a year now. Never click on a link without double or triple checking first. Never give any personal information over the phone without checking everything.

Reporting these scams to the authority purportedly sending them is all you really can do. They will then issue a warning to their customers via their homepage.

The cyber crime division of the police doesn't have the capacity to deal with this sort of thing, especially as it is well-nigh impossible to track down the scammer.

Yes, it is annoying, and yes, vulnerable youngsters or elderly people will be taken in by these scammers, but so they were in the days when con-men rang the doorbell or advertised in the newspapers.

Can you be arrested for failing to pay income tax? It seems unlikely to me.

This seems to be going the rounds. Definitely a scam. Think you did the right thing passing on to authorities.

Yes we got this e-mail. Just knew it was wrong, so deleted it immediately.