HMRC issues warning to all pensioners who receive winter fuel payments – 25,000 cases | Personal Finance | Finance

Older Brits have been urged to be cautious about winter fuel payment scam that is targeting thousands of people. The governmental scheme provides an annual, tax-free lump sum worth between £100 and £300 to help pensioners with their heating bills. However, those with an income above £35,000 will have to repay the money.

Payment recovery is automatically handled by HMRC. Those who earn more than £35,000 would have had their tax code changed in April, and will then pay more tax each month to repay the total amount received in 2025 and 2026.

However, HMRC has now issued a warning alerting pensioners that scammers could use the recovery process to target older Brits.

There were more than 25,000 Winter Fuel Payment scam referrals over the last 12 months, and now that around two million people are in the process of paying back their payments, thieves are likely to use it as a hook in their scam texts, emails, and phone calls.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer, said: “Criminals are great pretenders and often use fake letters, emails, calls and texts to impersonate HMRC and trick people into giving them money.

“I’d encourage anyone who’s unsure to use our online tool at GOV.UK to check whether and how their payment will be recovered – there’s no need to call us.”

HMRC emphasised that it will never contact people by text pr email to ask them to repay their Winter Fuel Payment, or to request bank details.

If you receive a suspicious text claiming to be HMRC, you can forward it to 60599, for emails you can forward it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, and to report a scam phone call, you can visit GOV.UK.

Those who have had their money stolen should contact their bank immediately and notify Report Fraud. In Scotland, contact police on 101.