Compliance Telephone interview

Tina56

Hi

I have got a letter saying that I will be called on my mobile next week for a compliance interview to see if my payments are correct. 

They say they want details of my bank statements and savings and investments

They also want details of my partners earnings wage slips and invoices etc , but I do not have a partner

The letter does not have my national insurance number on it as it always does when you get a letter from the DWP  just a reference number and I rang the number and it was for a sports and leisure centre which was closed.

This can not be right surely?   could it be a scam to get my bank details?  Has anybody had one of these interviews?

I have not had a change of circumstances for a number of years and the letter says this interview is because of a change in circumstance, so can not understand why I should have had this letter.

 

wilko

@Tina56, hello and welcome, the letter you received sounds like a scam especially as you rang the number which is a leisure and sports center and it was closed unless you rang out of hours as they are open from 6am to 10pm. Did the letter have the usual DWP address and contact details? I would contact DWP Monday and if they contact you next week on your mobile smart phone you can block the number by pressing recent calls in top right corner of the screen 3 or 4 dots press and a drop down menu appears with a list of options on what to do with the number highlighted. Near bottom of the menu you can block this caller. Please don't give out personal information or bank details. 

Tina56

Hi Wilko

Thanks for your reply.    I am pretty sure that it must be a scam because a lot of things do not seem right about the letter.
It has the name of a job centre on it that would never deal with my claim , but I thought with It being a compliance interview it could be a different job centre for it.

It also gave a text phone number for universal credit which I do not claim,  I claim ESA.

The sports and leisure centre was out of hours and I will try them again on Monday to see what they have to say, but when I went on its website it said domain for sale.

I will ring the DWP on Monday too to ask them about it.

poppy123456

Sounds like a scam to me! letters from any benefits will have your NI number on them. Remember please don't give out any of your personal details, including bank, NI number etc etc.

Tina56

Hi Poppy
Yeah That is why I was suspicious it has a different reference number on the left hand side which never happens from my experience of DWP letters.

I will be very surprised if it is real but I will find out on Monday no doubt and I will post if it is or not because if it is a scam people need to be aware of it.

debsidoo

Hi @Tina56
Even though this is probably a scam it may be worth ringing your local jobcentre to inform them of this letter.Scammers are getting smarter nowadays and it should be brought to their attention that they are being used in this way.You were aware enough to realise but others may not be as aware.It could save people a lot of problems if they know about this.
       Debsidoo.x

atlas46

Hi @Tina56

This is a scam letter.

The DWP states that if you think you have received a scam letter from them.

You should contact your local Jobcentre Plus.

If you google “contact Jobcentre Plus”, you enter your postcode for your local office.

It will be an 0800 free phone number.

Never give any bank details over the phone.

There has been reports in the media about scams concerning UC claimants, where the scammers get their hands on advance loans, meant for claimants.

Let us know what your Jobcentre Plus has to say on Monday.

Best wishes

atlas46

Hi @Tina56

Did you manage to speak with the DWP today, about the scam letter?

Best wishes

Tina56

Hi all just an update 

NOT A SCAM

Hard to believe but as much as the letter seemed dodgy it was a real one, the phone number was to a compliance office at the job centre.
The man I was trying to contact had gone away on holiday and diverted the number to this sports and leisure centre that is for DWP staff , why I do not know.

I finally got to speak with the compliance officer after messing around with the Job centre phone line for 2 hours and they got him to ring me back today.

Anyway if anyone gets one of these do not worry because he did the checks there and then it took 2 minutes , all they want to do is ask you if you are receiving your benefits okay and you are who you say you are. 

That's probably why they don't put your national insurance number on it and he did not want my bank details or statements or anything like that.

He said that the computer just picks people at random so many a month for them to check.

Adrian_Scope

Thanks for updating us @Tina56. I'm glad this has all worked out okay!

Chloe_Alumni

Glad it went okay @Tina56!

Alex_Alumni

Hello again @Petal19 as this thread is a few years old, the posters might be slow in replying to you. Did the letter have a date for the interview?

If you are worried could you contact JobCentre Plus to ask about it:

Jobcentre Plus

Telephone: 0800 169 0310
Textphone: 0800 169 0314
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 169 0310
British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet
Welsh language: 0800 328 1744
Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

I'm also sorry to hear about what happened to you in June last year, was this reported to the Police at all? 

These organisations can help with support:

• Victim Support's page on Fraud
• Which? has a tool to report scams as well as a way to sign up to scam alerts

Let us know if we can help with anything else in the meantime, hopefully on Monday you'll be able to speak to someone and check it's all okay.