Website of the UK government

How the scam works

People who take up the offer are asked for their bank details so a repayment or compensation can be sent to their account.

Some are even asked for an upfront payment of an ‘administrative fee'. Often this is asked for by money transfer, possibly to an overseas account.

Abuse of trust

Scammers deliberately pose as being from highly trusted organisations in order to catch people off guard. Organisations whose names have been used to win people's trust include:

• the Ministry of Justice
  
• the Office of Fair Trading
  
• HM Revenue and Customs
• other government departments
  
• authorised claims management firms
  
• high street banks
  

Ministry: 'we don't ask for personal details'

The Ministry of Justice says it would never contact people by phone and ask for their bank details. The callers are not connected with the Ministry of Justice, and appear to be collecting personal data to use it for criminal ends. The Ministry warns people not to give personal details to such callers.  

If you have given your bank details to a caller like this, please contact your bank as soon as possible to check for unauthorised transactions.

Report a suspected bogus call

If you're unsure if a call was genuine, you can view a list of registered claims management companies on the Ministry of Justice's Claims Regulation website. The site also lists companies which have recently been shut down.

To report a possible scam call, telephone the Claims Management Helpline on 0333 200 0110.

• Claims Management Regulation (Ministry of Justice) Opens new window

• Claiming compensation: authorised providers Opens new window

More from Directgov

• Financial scams - how to protect yourself (money, tax and benefits section)

• How to avoid online fraud (home and community section)

• Protecting your identity (government, citizens and rights section)