Government Impersonation

What it looks like

• A text or email saying you have an unpaid fine, an outstanding tax debt, or a case opened in your name.
• A link to a site that looks official but sits at a different address: "gov-uk-refund.xyz", "tax-service-online.com".
• Sometimes a phone call asking you to "confirm" your national insurance or ID number.

How to spot it

• Government services live on their own domains and nowhere else. If the address bar says anything else, the page is fake.
• Agencies do not send payment links by text. Debts and fines appear when you log into the official site yourself.
• No agency asks for your login password or a text verification code over the phone.
• The message frightens and hurries you: "pay today or enforcement begins." Real agencies give written notice and time.

What to do

• Do not tap the link. Open the official site by typing the address yourself and check whether you owe anything.
• If you are unsure, ring the agency on a number you looked up — never the number in the message.
• Report and delete the message.

If it already happened

• If you entered your login details, change that password immediately on the official site; if you cannot get in, use the agency's account recovery process.
• If you paid, call your bank and start a chargeback.
• If you gave identity details, tell your bank to flag applications made in your name, and check your credit file for accounts you did not open.
• Report it to the police — identity misuse needs an official record.

Common questions