We have been made aware of a scam letter that has been sent to residents falsely saying that it is from a ‘HM Courts & Tribunals Service’.
The letter states that the resident had been fined because they were ‘found to be working against tax credit rules’ and because their children had a low attendance rate ‘which is unacceptable in the UK’.
This fake letter has HM Courts branding including their logo to make it appear more genuine. The letter threatens that £20,000 must be paid to a fake telephone number and threatens that unless money is paid their ‘settlement scheme will be cancelled’, ‘stay in the UK will be prohibited’ and that the resident will be ‘expelled from the UK for 10 years’. The letter also uses very upsetting scare tactics stating that if payment is not made then the residents’ children will be taken from them to ‘an orphanage’
Action:
Do not respond: If you receive a letter that you think is a scam, ignore it and throw it away.Never reply
Don’t presume it is real: HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not issue Penalty Charge Notices. Fraudsters will copy a business’s logo and attempt to make the letter look genuine.
How to spot a fake letter: Be observant, often scam letters contain very obvious spelling and grammar mistakes, for example, it may say ‘setlement’ instead of ‘settlement’. If in doubt do not respond.
If you need advice or want to report a scam to Stoke-on-Trent Trading Standards, please contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on:0808 223 1133