Ignore national insurance scam
People are advised to ignore a national insurance scam, which tries to lure people into releasing personal information that could then be used to target them further.
Dudley Council’s scams unit is warning people against this latest scam, which could be received as either a phone call or an email.
This scam has been reported nationwide with people saying they feel pressured into releasing their personal information as they are told there is a serious issue or potential fraud connected to their national insurance number.
If anyone gets such a call, they should hang up immediately. If they receive an email, they should delete it and must not click on any links or attachments.
It is thought scammers use this as a phishing exercise to try and get people’s personal information in order to target them again with scams and lure them into parting with their money.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said:
“This is a phishing scam, which puts people under pressure to act quickly and provide their personal details. Please protect your personal information by hanging up immediately and ignoring any emails and report the incident to our scams unit. Don’t give the scammers the satisfaction of getting what they want.”
If anyone is concerned that they or someone they know may have fallen victim to scams, they should contact the scams unit on 01384 818871 or via trading.standards@dudley.gov.uk
Anyone who wants to check information about their national insurance number can go to https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance