Benefits claimants have been warned scammers may try to use their information to commit benefit fraud and other crimes. The DWP is calling on those who receive Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance to be vigilant as scammers may contact them pretending to be from the department.
The DWP said: “Be fraud aware and protect your personal details at all times. Your information could be used by criminals to commit benefit and other fraud.
“The DWP may ask you to submit ID such as your passport. We will always add a message to your journal to prove it is us.”
People should also be on the lookout for scams around energy bills rebates and cost of living payments, with Action Fraud reporting scams such as these have been detected.
A £900 cost of living payment is to go out to people on certain means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit, over the coming financial year.
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This will be paid in three instalments with the first payment of £301 arriving in people’s bank accounts in spring 2023.
The money will be paid automatically so people should be wary of any correspondence purportedly from the DWP which says they need to do something to claim the payment.
Scammers often contact people pretending to be from a bank or organisation to try and dupe them into sending over personal or banking information.
Telltale signs a message may be fake include spelling or grammar mistakes, or if the message is from an unusual number or email address.
Twitter user Alan Green (@alangreen1958) previously contacted Santander after he was targeted by scammers pretending to be from the bank.
He said in a tweet: “Had an email from mobilepayments@santander and text cancelling my google pay card, they gave last four digits of card but smells like a scam.”
Santander responded to confirm the message was a scam. A spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “Fraudsters will often use personal or financial detail previously obtained through phishing, smishing or vishing to make their approach to potential victims look more convincing.
“If customers are in any doubt at all about whether a message is genuine, they should get in touch by calling the Stop Scams number on 159.”
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If a person is unsure about a message they have received they should call the bank or organisation themselves to confirm what the situation is.
To protect oneself from being scammed, individuals should never share security details with another person, even a bank employee.
Similarly, Britons are encouraged never to enter online banking details after clicking on a link in an email or text message.
Finally, people should never download software or let someone remotely use a computer or device, during or after a cold call.
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