ID fraud. I've been scammed!

[Brandane]

Looks like I have been done.
Long story short.....
For the last couple of years I have been working part time for several agencies, driving HGV's. I also receive a public sector pension.
Recently I acquired a new part time job, not in the haulage industry, so contacted my most recent employer to tell them their services were no longer required. They did the right thing and paid me the balance of holidays due to me, but when I received my payslip yesterday I was surprised to see I had been taxed at 45%. Genuine mistake, I thought, and we'll sort it out.

Coincidentally, my tax code notice arrived in this mornings post. There are 3 "employments" listed on it which I don't recognise, but all with similar sounding names. Parent companies of driving agencies, possibly, was my first thought. Then I saw that my tax code had been adjusted to put me in the 45% bracket! Plus, an estimate of underpaid tax for year ending 5th April 2017 of just over £49000.00

At that point I got a little worried and decided to phone the nice people at HMRC. Trying to get to speak to a real person at HMRC is worthy of it's own thread, but I digress. It would appear that some company, unknown to me, has been telling HMRC that I receive a LOT of money from them. They have created 3 employment records for me, too . I have confirmed with the driver agencies I used to work for that none of them have a parent company of the name used by my alleged employer.

Hopefully HMRC will get this sorted, but it's just another little bit of stress that I could do without. Anyone know if this is a common modus operandi for a fraud? Be very careful about who you pass your details to! I am normally anal about such things, but clearly someone somewhere has obtained some personal data that has been useful to them .

 

[S-Express]

How do we know this is really you?

 

[martint235]

I'm not sure it's a scam more an admin error somewhere. A scam would suggest that someone else benefits (other than HMRC obviously) and making this kind of error would also, in a computerised system, result in who ever is claiming to pay you have to pay more in NI

 

[nickyboy]

Sounds strange. The benefit to the company that does this is that it reduces their taxable profits as they have fictitious costs. However it will never work as you have found out; via the PAYE system. The unfortunate recipient of these fictitious payments gets a huge tax demand and all this does is point the finger at the perpetrator

I suspect that the perpetrator is either a complete idiot or it's an error

 

[classic33]

I'd a second N.I. Number applied for, and got by an ex employer. Wage paid, at a higher rate, for three years to the other me resulted in HMRC taking action against me then the company. I was able to prove that none of the money paid reached my account.

I know who applied for the second number and that I wasn't the only to who she'd done it.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Sounds strange. The benefit to the company that does this is that it reduces their taxable profits as they have fictitious costs. However it will never work as you have found out; via the PAYE system. The unfortunate recipient of these fictitious payments gets a huge tax demand and all this does is point the finger at the perpetrator

I suspect that the perpetrator is either a complete idiot or it's an error

But it also increases costs for the employer, as they have to pay Employee NI contributions too.

 

[classic33]

Sounds strange. The benefit to the company that does this is that it reduces their taxable profits as they have fictitious costs. However it will never work as you have found out; via the PAYE system. The unfortunate recipient of these fictitious payments gets a huge tax demand and all this does is point the finger at the perpetrator

I suspect that the perpetrator is either a complete idiot or it's an error

Once someone realises there's something wrong. Upto that point the "company" just carries on as normal. Whatever "normal" was/is for them.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

You gave your national insurance number to some company, they are using it, probably by mistake, for somebody that is not you.
It must have happened after the beginning of the tax year, or you would have heard before now that they want so much back dated tax from you.
It's a mistake, but the person that is earning so much without paying tax is probably not talking about it.

 

[martint235]

You gave your national insurance number to some company, they are using it, probably by mistake, for somebody that is not you.
It must have happened after the beginning of the tax year, or you would have heard before now that they want so much back dated tax from you.
It's a mistake, but the person that is earning so much without paying tax is probably not talking about it.

But may be in for a bit of a shock..........

 

[nickyboy]

But it also increases costs for the employer, as they have to pay Employee NI contributions too.

It does but the extra Co NI is less that Corporation Tax (if the perp is a Company) or Income tax (if it is an individual)

 

[Brandane]

How do we know this is really you?

Will it help if I PM you my full name, D.O.B., address, post code, NI number, and mother's maiden name?
I'll include my bank details too, just in case you feel like making a substantial contribution towards my upcoming tax bill!

 

[Deleted member 35268]

Wow, this is an insane story. Having had many of my own Tax issues with HMRC, I learnt the hard way that calling them, no matter how hard it is to get through, pays off. I found that calling at 8am weekdays was a breeze (only took me four years to figure this out.) Don't try calling in the evening. Let's hope the culprit(s) are found and you can be reimbursed for any overpaid tax as a result of you breaking the threshold. The underpaid tax of £49,000 is staggering. I hope you don't have too many sleepless nights. I've had a few surprise underpayments myself, but nothing like that.

 

[DCLane]

Hopefully you can get this sorted - and your missing tax back.

If not, can I add myself to your list so you can pay my tax bill for this year?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

But may be in for a bit of a shock..........

Aye, he/she should be easy to find once the tax people find the company that issued the P45.
Nevertheless, has @Brandane not received previous pay slips?
Is this the first in his name with the wrong tax deductions?
How come that the top line was not a large amount too?
Weird!

 

[Brandane]

Nevertheless, has @Brandane not received previous pay slips?

No.