don’t be a victim of insolvency service? telephone scam

The government warns the public not to fall for a telephone scam which asks you to make unnecessary and premium-rate calls to the insolvency’service.

The insolvency service is an executive agency of the department for business, energy and industrial strategy.

Members of the public have been receiving telephone messages to make unscheduled and unnecessary calls to the insolvency service.

The website behind the dodgy calls provides direct telephone numbers of businesses in the UK but when used and will cost the caller a lot of money.

The scam appears to be instigated by a foreign website based outside of the UK called helplinecall.com.

A government spokesperson said: a telephone number that although does connect to the insolvency service, is not one of our official numbers and is a premium-rate number that costs a lot of money.

The following tips will help prevent you being made another victim of telephone scams:

• If you’re being asked to call the insolvency service but you are not going through a bankruptcy or insolvency matter be careful as it could be a scam phone call.
• Take a look at the number you’re being asked to call if it looks like it’s a premium rate number then it might not be legitimate.
• If you’re still unsure about the number, check the official?insolvency service websiteto see if it is one of our numbers.
• You can also check numbers using a standard search engine as if it is a legitimate number you will be taken to an official website.
• If you think you’re a victim of a scam report it to our friends at?action fraud(0300 123 2040) or to the?insolvency service

David Hickson, campaigner at Fair Telecoms, said: “Aside from the specific fraud involved in this case, where victims were explicitly invited to call the number, this is a major issue for industry and its customers, and we are pressing the PSA and Ofcom to do more to address this.”