Parents who have missed vital child benefit payments this week are being targeted by scammers online pretending to be from HMRC.
The Government’s tax office apologised after around 577,000 families – an estimated 30 per cent of those who should have been paid child benefit – failed to receive payments on Monday due to a “processing error”, with parents branding the delay a “shambles”.
HMRC said all those affected would receive payment by Wednesday morning, but the delay has left some unable to buy baby formula, pay for electricity or send their children to school so far this week, as i reported on Monday.
However, scammers impersonating HMRC staff have targeted some of these vulnerable parents on social media, asking them to send money via an app to resolve the issue.
HMRC has emphasised that it never asks for personal or bank information via social media, and has encouraged parents to check online messages are coming from its official account.
Kayleigh, from Gateshead, said being made to wait days for her child benefit payment of over £70 has left her “destitute” this week.
In messages on social media, seen by i, the mother-of-four was targeted by scammers while awaiting payment on Monday.
The scammers, whose profile on X she claims closely resembled official HMRC accounts, requested her name, national insurance number and the first line of her address before promising to rearrange her payment that day, and even within 30 minutes.
She was also sent a WhatsApp message advising her to download an app and send a payment of £1 before her benefit would be sent.
“All of a sudden, I got a WhatsApp phone call – and I thought, ‘Well, HMRC aren’t going to call on WhatsApp,'” Kayleigh, 34, told i.
She said a man told her he was from HMRC and instructed her to download an app.
Kayleigh explained: “I said, ‘HMRC wouldn’t do that. This is blatantly a scam.’
“He said, ‘No – download the app, log in, and then if you send me £1 we can then issue your payment.’
“I just started laughing because I thought – ‘It’s a scam.’
“I was so relieved to think I was going to get my payment, and I had to hang up on him. Scamming people at a time when you can clearly see we are waiting for payment.
“It’s disgusting, it’s taking advantage of people.”
Kayleigh claims the benefit delay left her family sitting in the dark on Monday night, forcing them to eat cold sandwiches for dinner by candlelight as she couldn’t afford to top up her electricity meter.
Her fridge has shut off, she told i, and she is concerned its contents will go off, with her children – aged 11, 10, nine and seven – off school for a second day running on Tuesday as she can’t afford their bus fares.
“My supplier won’t help [with the electricity] as I already owe them, but I repay every time I top up,” she said.
“I can’t get to the food bank as there isn’t one close enough to me that I can get to. I rely on child benefit every Monday.”
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Concerned that others would also be targeted, Kayleigh posted on X about the scam attempt – though the account that reached out to her appears to have been suspended.
“There’s thousands of people like me as well, who are going to be struggling,” she said.
“Some people have got family and friends to support, some people haven’t.
“Some people have got a local council for support – I haven’t. We have been left in the lurch.”
Kayleigh added: “I think it’s an absolute disgrace that everyone who was due that payment yesterday like me isn’t going to get paid until Wednesday.
“And then it was a kick in the teeth when they put on a status saying Tuesday’s payments are fine.”
HMRC posted a “scam alert” notice on X on Tuesday, advising that it had “identified a new scam on X involving some accounts impersonating HMRC or our customer service advisers”.
It continued: “We’ll never ask for personal or bank information via social media. Our only accounts on X are @HMRCgovuk, @HMRCcustomers, and @HMRCpressoffice”.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry that some customers did not receive their scheduled Child Benefit payments as expected and understand the concern and difficulty caused. We’ve fixed the problem and are putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again.
“Affected customers will now receive their payments on Wednesday morning (5 June). Anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment can apply for redress by completing our online complaints form.
“We’re aware of scammers looking to exploit this issue and are working with social media companies to shut down these accounts.”
What to do if you have not received child benefit payment
HMRC has requested that parents do not call them if they are yet toreceive their child benefit payment.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has advised that once the issue has been fixed, if people are out of pocket, they should complain to HMRC for redress.
He suggests if you’ve had a charge as a payment bounced due to no child benefit being paid, to note it down and then later try asking HMRC to cover that charge.
People affected by the problems can log a complaint using the form at the top of the pagehereon the HMRC website.
The Government’s standard advice for people who have not received their benefit isto check their payment date and contact their bank before calling thechild benefit officeif a payment is late.
Citizens Advice says if someone owes money and is struggling to pay they should should speak to the organisations they owe money to – they might let them pay smaller amounts or take a break from payments.
They advise anyone in debt not to ignore bills or letters about money they owe.
Have you been affected by this? Please contact Joe.Duggan@inews.co.uk
