DWP late night phone call...

[humpy07]

I've recently moved house (my parents had let us live at their house while I was out of work). For a few months in 2009 I was claiming Job Seekers Allowance. The DWP still have my parent's address for correspondence as i'm currently in rented accommodation.

At 8.50pm tonight, my parents recieved a phone call from someone claiming to be from the DWP wanting to talk to me about my old claim for JSA. Does this sound legit?

My dad asked for a number so I could call them back, but they said they were ex-directory.

Sounds very odd to me... anyone else had something similar?

Thanks

[mccfluff]

i haven't but if they won;t give a number to callback - no sounds wrong. best thing to do is ring them tomorrow and ask - the real dwp i mean

[jackthehat]

Very iffy............

Civil Servants working at 8.50 pm !!! Doesn't sound very realistic.
They would have left name and number, too.

Someone is messing about.

[humpy07]

That's what I thought. I've just been checking online, 8pm is the latest I can find any department working.

DWP website is a waste of time if you want to find a phone number though...

[sara3]

you won't get a call from a jobcentre at that time of night, but the call may have come from one of the main call centres. I'm not sure how late they work.

[askyourgran]

It sounds dodgy to me. No-one would be working at that time of night, and even if they were they would leave a name and telephone contact.

[Eve]

Sounds pretty suss to me!

There are scams going round at the moment from people claiming to be from the local authority/HMRC about refunds of council tax/tax etc.. trying to get people's bank details.

As above, I'd ring the DWP themselves on their official number and query it as, if it is a scam, worrying how they got your details - it's not like it's as wide reaching as tax/council tax...

[sara3]

and I can't see why they'd want to talk to you about a claim from 2009.

[Francis Asis]

When I worked at Nationwide on the evening shift we finished a 9.00 but the rule was you don't ring anybody after 8.00. Don't know if that helps.

[humpy07]

The only thing I can think of which has any link to JSA is a recent claim I made for a tax rebate. I had to send in proof of how much JSA had paid me. That was it!

I am currently working, and receive Disability Living Allowance but that is totally unrelated.

I'm really confused!

[humpy07]

Thank you all for your replies.

[dotty.]

but were you living at your parents when you did the recent tax rebate claim?

[DavideMexia]

have you dialled 1471 and checked who called you ? Why dont you give it a try and do some research in the web.

[treebear]

if the dwp need you to respond
they will tell you how to !

[society]

Someone is trying to scare you.

[BettyNoir]

I used to work at the CSA and we could never get hold of the jobcentres or the benefit delivery centres (the call peole who actually make the payments) after 5. Some of my friends work in various jobcentres and I have known them to have to work till as late as 9pm on overtime but doing paperwork and suchlike. Most government phone lines stay open till 8 for incoming calls and sometimes the offices will stay open till 9 if people want to work that late, so it's possible, but highly unlikely, that someone would call you at that time. The numbers for the jobcentres are all avaialble via directgov and usually you will be signposted to the website or given the customer services number for that area. I agree it sounds fishy, but the policy is usuallly to make 3 attempts at a phonecall before following the query up with a letter, so ask your parents to keep an eye on their post,