We are aware of a rogue company trying to gain business by pretending to be The Debt Advice Service or even the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in some occasions even using our logo on WhatsApp messages to trick vulnerable people into thinking they are speaking to a reputable company. If you have received an email from someone claiming to be from a company and are threating CCJs, Bankruptcy and other legal debt avenues, but are using a Gmail/Outlook/Hotmail etc email address it is extremely unlikely to be genuine.
If you have spoken to any off-shore company saying they are The Debt Advice Service, please be aware we do not have any off-shore staff members.
If in doubt please call us on 0800 254 5112 or email us via admin@thedebtadviceservice.co.uk for further advice.
You can also report any fake contact to the National Cyber Security Centre by following the below instructions;
· a text message, forward it to 7726 – this is free of charge
· an email, forward it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk
· a message in an application, for example WhatsApp, take a screenshot and email it to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk