I lost £50,000 to the fake taxmen... it was like being held at gunpoint
Widow tells how she was tricked by aggressive scammers exposed by the Mail
A GRIEVING widow told yesterday how she lost almost £50,000 to fake taxmen fraudsters who made her feel like she was being ‘held at gunpoint’.
Linda Butler was terrified into making repeat payments to aggressive criminals posing as HMRC officials who warned her she faced a huge fine and being arrested at her home if she refused to pay non-existent tax debts.
The Government pledged to take action this week after a Daily Mail investigation revealed how as many as 10,000 Britons a day are being hit by the scammers, who work from call centres in India.
But despite the promised crackdown, the fraudsters continue to operate with apparent impunity.
One mother described how she was left in tears after being targeted on the school run only yesterday morning. Meanwhile, scores more readers have contacted the Mail about the scam.
Mrs Butler, 56, described how she came home last December to find a stern voicemail from a man purporting to be an HMRC officer ordering her to call back urgently or face legal consequences. When she did, she was told she had been avoid-
‘He said he had come to my house before’
ing tax. The scammer said she owed HMRC £4,000 and if she failed to pay up she would face a £30,000 fine.
Mrs Butler, who had recently lost her husband David, said she felt frightened because the man was so aggressive.
Assuming that there had been a mistake with her tax bill, she logged into her online bank account and made the £4,000 payment he demanded. But the fraudster then claimed the transfer had not gone through and ordered her to make the payment again.
This continued repeatedly for almost two hours.
Mrs Butler could see her account balance going down but the fraudster was adamant the payments were not going through and assured her any overpayment would be refunded.
At one point the man made her call her bank, NatWest, to confirm she was authorising the payment. He said that if she mentioned HMRC the bank would freeze her account and she would be unable to pay her mortgage.
Mrs Butler said: ‘I felt like I was being held at gunpoint.’
Eventually she hung up and contacted her bank, to discover she had lost almost £50,000.
Mrs Butler said: ‘I was so frightened. He said he had come to my house before and I had no idea if they were waiting around the corner.’ After investigating, NatWest managed to retrieve £2,700 but refused to refund the remainder because Mrs Butler had authorised the payments.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has promised to do more to stop the telephone scammers.
Despite this, however, the fraudsters continue to operate. Amy Diamond, an administrator who lives near Bromley in South-East London, told the Mail she was targeted yesterday morning.
Miss Diamond was one of ten Daily Mail readers who contacted us to say they had received intimidating calls yesterday, just a day after the Government promised a crackdown on the fraudsters.
She said: ‘I completely believed it until something told me to call HMRC direct. I was in the car on the school run with my children and it had me in tears. It was so aggressive and demanding. It was petrifying.’
A spokesman for NatWest said last night: ‘We sympathise with Mrs Butler, who has been the victim of a scam and appreciate this has been a very distressing time for her.
‘We take our responsibilities in preventing scams seriously and will always try to help customers to recover their funds.
‘Unfortunately, as she made the payments herself and confirmed a number of them as genuine when we contacted her, we are unable to refund her loss.’
Have you been a victim too? Please contact investigations@ dailymail.co.uk