Number’s up for fake phone calls

BEWARE of automated phone calls as they can be the gateway to scams.

Take the case of Sunday People reader George who had a lucky escape after being tricked into giving away a lot of personal details.

George contacted me after receiving an automated call telling him his National Insurance number had been “compromised”.

The recorded message told him to press “option one” on his handset to connect to a live agent to deal with the matter.

George followed the directions and was put through to a woman who said her name was Marie.

Scam

She told George she would be able to issue him with a new National Insurance number over the phone.

Naturally he was relieved the issue was being resolved.

For the next ten minutes George was asked for lots of personal information to verify his identity and to set up the new number.

During the call he confirmed his home address, date and place of birth, email address, mother’s maiden name and details of all the occupants of his house.

George, of North London, was of course the victim of a scam.

He discovered this three weeks later when he phoned the National Insurance helpline to chase up his new card and number. He then contacted me to tell his story. I advised him to check his credit file.

He did so immediately and it turned out a loan application had been made in his name but, thankfully, the application had been refused.

In recent months this scam has become very common and has caught out plenty of people such as George.

The Government will not contact you via an automated phone message to discuss your National Insurance. Any such call will always be a scam. You should be wary of all automated calls and never choose to be linked through the operator.

Similarly, never press on a link in an email or text unless you are certain the sender is genuine.

If you do receive a communication about your National Insurance and are concerned about its authenticity, head to the official Government website here: www.gov.uk/national-insurance/your-nationalinsurance-number.