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Help please! Possibly fraudulent letter from DWP

J

Jimin

pfm Member
Hello all

I received a letter last week in on official looking envelope. It's purportedly from the Department of Work and Pensions. It states 'Our records show that you owe £398.14 to us'.

Now, I'm not in receipt of any benefits. I started making a Universal Credit claim a couple of years ago - a relative had told me that the government would help new businesses so I applied, discovered that I would be eligible for the square root of next to nothing, and cancelled the claim. No payments were ever made to me.

I don't receive any other benefit - Tax Credits ceased a few years ago. I've tried phoning the number on the letter but - surprise surprise - I can't talk to anyone about the demand, I can only get through to an automated payment system.

(Sorry for the long post)

The letter is dated 17.11.2020 but I received it just a few days ago - end of Nov, at the earliest. Apparently, if I fail to contact them about repayment by 8/12/20 my employer will be contacted and a debt collection agency will be put on the case.

I've looked at the benefits website - no help, spoke to the Universal Credit people, they tell me I don't owe anything. I spent 45 minutes waiting for the Tax Credits 'help' line before giving up.

Does anyone have any advice? I know it's not a fortune but I'm very suspicious. The DWP logo is on the letter but it looks a little bit photocopied to me. I've looked up about benefit fraud but usually it seems to happen by email or text.

I'd be really interested to hear what people might think. Identity theft is a real phenomenon, no?

Thanks for reading this far and if I've left out anything obvious and salient please ask.

Cheers!

Jim
 
There must be a reference number and a legitimate phone number you can call to check if HMRC / DWP think you owe the money.
 
Goldenmouse said:
There must be a reference number and a legitimate phone number you can call to check if HMRC / DWP think you owe the money.
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Thanks for reading and replying!

The reference number is my NI number and like I say, the supplied phone number just goes to an automated payment system - no queries allowed.
 
How does it say to pay the amount - if it gives a Sort Code/Account Number - look it up

Have you discussed with your employer and or HR/Accounting Dept?

Try calling HMRC/DWP a couple of times first thing and a little after 2pm.

Identity Theft is a real thing and a lot easier and more common than you’d imagine so be careful and triple check it out. Saying that HMRC can be obtuse to deal with and it’s not always obvious what they are on about.
 
Thanks! I'm looking at the benefits overpayment section of the gov.uk website and I can apply for 'mandatory reconsideration'. Oddly, I'm told to write to the benefit department named on the letter - but no benefit department is named on the letter.

The phone number just hangs up saying they're closed - no account number or sort code given. It's really fishy! It says 'Thank you for calling Debt Management - part of the DWP'.

I'll definitely call HMRC on Monday but it's playing on my mind a bit, hence the post.

Thanks again!
 
MartinC said:
Can you google the phone number on the letter and see if it shows up as a legit DPW number or a scam?
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I just Ecosia'd the number - it does come up as a legit DWP debt management number. But I'm not on benefits!

Maybe it's a genuine mistake. If only I could talk to someone but yesterday the auto response just said 'We are dealing with a large number of enquiries and cannot talk to you now' then hung up.

Every so often, life goes a little bit Kafka doesn't it?
 
Mistakes happen at HMRC, I got a £100 fine for not filing a type of Corp Tax report that I didn’t need to file and never had filed in the previous 18 years.

They took the £100 from my PAYE quarterly payment without telling me, a totally different Dept. Nobody ever explained that away.

Call them on Monday, it’s been my experience that when you get a human they are reasonable people to talk with. Don’t fret it’ll be a genuine mistake or bullsh1t and will get sorted just don’t stress too much it will get fixed/clarified after the weekend.
 
Amber Audio said:
Mistakes happen at HMRC, I got a £100 fine for not filing a type of Corp Tax report that I didn’t need to file and never had filed in the previous 18 years.

They took the £100 from my PAYE quarterly payment without telling me, a totally different Dept. Nobody ever explained that away.

Call them on Monday, it’s been my experience that when you get a human they are reasonable people to talk with. Don’t fret it’ll be a genuine mistake or bullsh1t and will get sorted just don’t stress too much it will get fixed/clarified after the weekend.
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They do like the low hanging fruit, less keen on the bigger targets.
 
Amber Audio said:
Mistakes happen at HMRC, I got a £100 fine for not filing a type of Corp Tax report that I didn’t need to file and never had filed in the previous 18 years.

They took the £100 from my PAYE quarterly payment without telling me, a totally different Dept. Nobody ever explained that away.

Call them on Monday, it’s been my experience that when you get a human they are reasonable people to talk with. Don’t fret it’ll be a genuine mistake or bullsh1t and will get sorted just don’t stress too much it will get fixed/clarified after the weekend.
Click to expand...

I don't mind genuine mistakes but it appears that this is actual fraud. You're right, people on the phone are often reasonable and I'm done fretting. Cheers!
 
Jimin said:
I don't mind genuine mistakes but it appears that this is actual fraud. You're right, people on the phone are often reasonable and I'm done fretting. Cheers!
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Enjoy your weekend, pfm is really useful when stuff like this happens.
 
This is happening a lot.
People are finding fraudulent benefit claims have been made using their information.
The first they hear is when, like you, the DWP want it back.
It appears you have to go through all sorts of hoops to prove it wasn’t you who received the money.
 
Amber Audio said:
Enjoy your weekend, pfm is really useful when stuff like this happens.
Click to expand...

Pfm is a reservoir of assistance and experience. It's the accessible C.A.B. of hifi (and everything else). Unfortunately with HMRC, you have to wait for anything from 30 to 45+ minutes to get an answer. They do tell you at frequent intervals that your call WILL be answered, which has been my very recent experience over 3 calls.

Unfortunately I decided, after 40+ minutes on an important cap.gains call (been threated by a £100 fine but don't understand it) to clean my teeth. With mouth full of toothpaste, I got an answer. In panicking, spitting out, putting my glasses on a scurrying to the office, I accidentally cut him off. Gutted! Next, made another call which, after all the preliminary garbage, came back with 'sorry but we can't answer you'. I tried a third time and got someone after 25+ minutes. Then another 10 while she transferred me. I was too frazzled to fully comprehend the advice by then, pleasant as the people were.

It appears from friends that life is one bureaucratic hassle after another nowadays and not easy to deal with when your anxiety levels are high as in the o.p.'s case (and mine!) NS&I (according to Money Box today) are letting lots of people down. From leading the field in savings rates because they'd been told to increase the pot by another 30 or so billions, they didn't just reduce rates; they axed them!!!!!. 0.9% to 0.01%. Everybody and their dog had been piling in (as was the aim) since early summer and they then pull the plug (admittedly with 2 months' notice). Luckily I pulled mine out early. Oh yes, to add insult to injury, they completely revamped their website; a retrograde step, of course; it always is!

I rarely rant (apologies, fishies) but all this crap is pissing me off, and I'm not alone.
 
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