Fraud: Attention Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit claimants, (DWP) Issue Fraud Alert

Fraud: Attention Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit claimants, (DWP) Issue Fraud Alert

Fraud: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has just issued a fraud warning.

 

If you're thinking, "Oh no, not another boring proclamation," recap again! The warning comes with a stark alert that reads: "Your information can be used by criminals to commit benefit and other fraud."     

 

Now, you might be thinking, "What do these criminals want from me? I'm just a regular jobseeker!"Besides, in November last year, Auction Fraud recorded over 100 detentions in the UK's largest fraud crackdown. During the period, more than 200,000 possible UK sufferers were directly targeted through the fraud website iSpoof. Scammers hiding behind false identities used the site and posed as representatives from major banks, including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, Natwest, Nationwide, and TSB.

Now, the DWP is strengthening its alert to be attentive when it comes to private information. Don't worry; we're not just here to scare you. We also have some good news. The DWP has outlined how it would contact benefit claimants if it needed to. It stated: "DWP is likely to request you to submit ID equal to your passport." However, it added: "We will consistently add a message to your journal to prove it is us."

 

Utilising, its Twitter stage to put its bulletins across, DWP stated: "Be fraud conscious and guard your personal details at all times." It added: "Your information could be utilised by scammers to execute benefit and other fraud."

 

While we're on the topic of fraud, let's talk about Action Fraud. It's the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, and it's aware of several scams currently circulating relating to energy bill rebates, cost of living payments, and investments. Between September 1, 2022, and November 13, 2022, it received more than 350 reports relating to fake energy bill rebate text messages and emails - all purporting to be from the UK Government.

 

Fraud - Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations, and the police, so here's some advice from Action Fraud: Stop. Taking an instant to pause and figure out before parting with your cash or information could keep you safe!

 

Stay safe DWP, claimants!