Councillor among tax scam targets

A councillor has spoken out after he was one of large number of South Holland residents recently targeted by fraudsters threatening court action over unpaid tax.

South Holland District Councillor Pete Williams was phoned last week and told he was due in court that day ) owing nearly £5,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2014 to 2017.

The person claiming to be from the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) told the owner of The Punchbowl in Spalding that with court costs, the bill would rise to around £25,000.

“It was the threat of court action that worried me the most,” Pete said. “The person on the phone was saying the investigation had already taken place and they may be taking my passport away.

“They told me to ring them back, it was a Portsmouth number I believe.

“I rang my accountant and he told me it was probably a fraud. I Googled it and saw it didn’t add up.

“I contacted police and the fraud department immediately and they took it very seriously

“Thankfully I didn’t give away too many details and didn’t send money as they requested.

“Unfortunately, other people might not be so lucky.”

On Tuesday South Holland Police tweeted a warning that the scam was becoming widespread.

It read: “Please be advised that we are starting to receive a large amount of incidents regarding “HMRC” phone calls, requesting people to phone a number regarding money they owe.

“These are scam phone calls.

“Do not phone the number quoted. Any concerns please phone 101 #awareness.”

“It’s so sad,” Pete continued. “It’s the world we now live in where you can’t even take people at face value.

“Technology makes it too easy for people to do this and get away with it. The number seemed to imply these people were in Portsmouth but they could have been anywhere.”

Previous warnings about scams involving people claiming to be from the HMRC were released by Lincolnshire

Police’s anti fraud campaign Operation Signature for the Boston and Skegness areas last week.

Anyone contacted by the fraudsters is asked to report it to Lincolnshire Police’s Action Fraud hotline on 0300 1232040.

For police support or assistance call 101.