FAST TAX REBATES LTD SCAM

[sleigh30]

Hi,
 

8 of us at the same place of work have fallen victim to this scam due to us all earning around the 40k mark our payouts was close to £5k, ovbiously FTR keeping around £12k from each of us.

 

HMRC have sent me a letter demanding i pay £17k by the 28th of august, i sent them all proof of any dealings i had with this company.

 

we have tried all forms of contacts, emails texts calls and get nothing back, they was operating from a virtual office and had dealings with a "claire"  by whatsapp where she requested gateway information when was going through process, i never signed anything and was under the beleif it was a tax rebate, i know atleast 30 other victims.

 

this guy must of run of to the bahamas on all of our money!

 

there is also, max tax ltd was the email address they was using...which brings up another guy alan maxwell...guessing he keeps using different surnames.

 

£17k....for somebody to try ruin my life.

 

please advise what i can do

Edited August 10, 2021 by sleigh30

[sleigh30]

Hi,
 

i found this page by google and can see other people have been victims too.

 

8 of us at the same place of work have fallen victim to this scam due to us all earning around the 40k mark our payouts was close to £5k, ovbiously FTR keeping around £12k from each of us.

 

HMRC have sent me a letter demanding i pay £17k by the 28th of august, i sent them all proof of any dealings i had with this company.

 

we have tried all forms of contacts, emails texts calls and get nothing back, they was operating from a virtual office and had dealings with a "claire"  by whatsapp where she requested gateway information when was going through process, i never signed anything and was under the beleif it was a tax rebate, i know atleast 30 other victims.

 

HMRC disregarded all my proof i sent and still want me to pay in full

 

this guy must of run of to the bahamas on all of our money!

 

there is also, max tax ltd was the email address they was using...which brings up another guy alan maxwell...guessing he keeps using different surnames.

 

£17k....for somebody to try ruin my life.

[dx100uk]

yes maxwell

 

 

how did you all get scammed , passed him mobile numbers after a mate recommend each of you.

[sleigh30]

Hi, we dealt with email intially then we was contacted via whatsapp by someone claiming to be "claire"

 

they got a guy to call us after we was a bit dubious, and he claimed he was the boss  who has ripped us all off.

 

obviously, when other colleagues seen us getting rebates everybody was interested...there are atleast 20-30 people i know who have gone through this same company.

[dx100uk]

and hmrc have ignored the fact so many in the same company are now scammed?

have you informed them of this over such a wide scale in one place?

[sleigh30]

i have sent them print out of bank statements showing what i was paid, in my case the colleague who refered us all never told us she was getting referal fee...again in my instance i never gave them authority i actually had problem getitng pay out saying they couldnt access my gateway they had to send off for code...this was all at every point even to the payment a tax rebate...

 

HMRC disregarded my postal pack with over 30 different bits of evidence showing all emails texts bank statements everything. two of my ex colleagues have reported to fraud squad not getting far really.

 

no protection, why is HMRC paying these large sums without doing any checks

[dx100uk]

yes so usual mO then on the backhander for mobile numbers etc of 'friends'.

 

you might find it useful to get everyone you know to read and carryout the recommendations in this thread.

particularly about each one of you reporting this to the police/action fraud/TS etc etc.

 

also what date range are we looking at here...when..

[sleigh30]

i did last march 2020, only had letter in june advising of EIS and already demanding in august £17k back

[unclebulgaria67]

If not already done, it may be worth contacting your local MP to raise this issue. 

 

The Police economic crime department should definitely be investigating this.  I would be suprised if there were not already investigations taking place.

 

I wonder whether those involved even operate from the UK ?  They may have a UK registered address, but could be working remotely from abroad.   This would make it more difficult for the Police and other UK authorities.  And for those looking to sue these companies, any CCJ that is obtained, would be difficult to enforce.

 

 

 

 

[honeybee13]

Hi, Sleigh. I'm so sorry you've been caught out by this.

 

I don't have a 192.com subscription and it isn't cheap, but this page shows an Alan Francis O'Hara who's about the age of the man who set up Fast Tax Rebates Ltd with an address in Durham. All of his companies have been in the north east of England so far.

 

StackPath

WWW.192.COM

 

We've advised everything we can think of so far and I think UB's advice on telling your MP is a good idea. Plus the police, Action Fraud, etc. I don't know if anyone so far has tried Trading Standards via the CAB.

 

If it were me, I'd be trying everyone possible but so far the authorites haven't really responded on this.

 

IMO, HMRC haven't helped because they don't publish a list of approved EIS schemes and we don't know if Mr O'Hara's companies had one or more of those. Does the name Cryoblast Solutions Ltd show up on any of your paperwork? Or a start-up type company in the north east? At least one other victim of the scam saw that on their alleged EIS claim.

 

HB

[sleigh30]

Hi, reported to action fraud now they are reporting to police to get me crime number...cryoblast solutions ltd doesnt show up.

 

on all my correspondence there are the following ltd companys

 

Maxwells accountancy ltd

max-tax ltd

Fast tax rebates ltd

 

different spellings of allan - alan also different surnames clearly changing his name

Allan Maxwell

Alan O'Hara

 

Really frustrating that in this day and age HMRC are paying large sums without doing checks.

 

 

 

[honeybee13]

I know.   I've looked into Allan Maxwell before and I'm not sure if it's the same person or not. From memory, the dates of birth on Companies House were different.

 

Did FTR tell you that Maxwell was their accountant?

 

HB

[honeybee13]

This is Allan Maxwell's page at Companies House. Both companies were closed after a couple of years, without filing accounts as far as I can see.

 

Allan MAXWELL - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)

FIND-AND-UPDATE.COMPANY-INFORMATION.SERVICE.GOV.UK

---

Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business...

 

Coincidentally he was also born in August, like Alan Francis O'Hara but he's five years older. What I don't know is if you want to set up a company in the UK, do you have to prove your date of birth?

 

HB

[sleigh30]

According to action fraud setting up a company you dont have to provide any I.D

[honeybee13]

Oh dear.   It's not right.

 

HB

[slick132]

Hi Sleigh,

 

Have you sent HMRC a SAR yet ?  If not, do so now.

 

Read the other threads here carefully to see what's been said and advised so far - the cases are Dixon, Alvinsmalvin and Schipoo.

 

Please encourage any others who you know were involved to sign up here at CAG and start their own thread. There may be a better chance of success if more people come forward and stand together.

[honeybee13]

To add to what Slick said, I think everyone who has been affected by the scam should also contact Action Fraud separately and follow all the other steps we recommend.

 

HB

[sleigh30]

how do i send a SAR?

[honeybee13]

Here's a link to HMRC's website for sending an SAR. Also have a read of our information by clicking on SAR to go to another screen.

 

Make a subject access request to HMRC - GOV.UK

WWW.GOV.UK

---

Find out how to ask for access to personal data that HMRC holds about you, or someone who has died.

 

HB

[slick132]

Also you need to read the other threads first, to see what was advised about sending a SAR to HMRC.

 

There's already lots of useful advice for you to read and follow.

[slick132]

Hi Sleigh,

 

Things are moving quickly now. Please read the posts here over the last few days - https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/439099-information-on-fast-tax-rebates-ltd-and-the-eis-scam/

 

 

Can you answer the 2 sets of Q's asked at posts#7 and #14.

 

Also, do you have a copy saved of any text msg or email that you had from FTR confirming what documents and info they wanted from you.