A LANDLORD who was seconds from getting scammed out of £3,000 in an HMRC con has warned others to think twice before handing out their bank details.

Graham Aldridge, who owns a dozen properties across the town, never thought he would be the kind of person to be taken in by the telephone fraudsters.

But he found himself ready to give out his account details last year to a woman who claimed to be chasing a £3,000 shortfall on his company’s tax bill. It was only luck that stopped him from making the payment.

Something made him think twice. He wants to warn people about the dangers of the ultra-convincing scammers: “If somebody phones you and you’re not quite sure - because sometimes they catch you when you can’t quite think straight – either say you’ll get back to them or you end the call.”

Trading standards officers have warned people to be extra wary of the scammers, whose tools of choice are the telephone and email.

Current popular scams include emails purporting to be from TV Licensing asking you to hand over your bank details to receive a refund and calls supposedly from HMRC either offering a tax rebate or demanding the payment of outstanding tax.

Carla Baker of Swindon Borough Council’s trading standards team said some had been tricked into giving “tens of thousands of pounds” to pension scammers. The schemes claim to be able to grow your pension pot, but actually leave the investors with nothing.

Moredon businessman Graham, 57, a builder by trade, could have been left £3,000 poorer by a short telephone conversation last winter.

Speaking as trading standards teams across the south west launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the scams, Graham said he was called by the con artists last November. On the other end of the line was a well-educated female voice. The woman said she was calling from the HMRC. Graham’s business had failed to pay £3,000 in tax, she said. But the woman had a solution: pay over the phone now and she wouldn’t need to freeze his bank accounts and take him to court.

In the background Graham could hear office noises. The woman was firm and seemed professional, giving Graham her details. When they got cut off she rang back on another number: “She said to me, ‘What decision are you going to make?’”

Graham added: “I was almost about to make the payment. I had my bank card in my hand.”

Ms Baker of Swindon Trading Standards said people were often panicked by the scammers into parting with their cash.

Her advice for people called by scammers was simple: “The most important thing for them to do is not panic and don’t do what the suspected scammers are asking them to do straightaway.

“They need to raise the alarm with their banking branch, so that’s contacting them either in-branch or on a trusted phone number.

“Often, the scammers have the ability to clone a number. It will look like a call’s coming from the number the customer has for Barclays or wherever."

She told the Adver: “People need to contact the number they trust for the bank. They also need to remember the bank will never ever ask them to transfer money into a ‘safe account’, never ask for pin numbers or online banking details.

“If somebody phones you and you’re not quite sure - because sometimes they catch you when you can’t quite think straight – either say you’ll get back to them or you end the call.”

Anyone worried they have been scammed should call police on 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.