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The Government Legal Department has issued a warning that its main telephone number is being used by fraudsters to try and extract money from members of the public.

The department said yesterday that its general enquiry number (020 7210 8500) is being hijacked by fraudsters, with the number showing in the caller ID on people's phones. Callers are usually very aggressive on the phone, threatening members of the public that if they do not pay a certain amount of money, the police will arrest them.

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The calls are not being made by GLD or HM Revenue and Customs and the department set out a warning on the calls.

“GLD will never call you from its enquiry line number. We will never ask you for your bank details or to pay us money over the phone.

"If you receive a call of the type described above, please hang up and call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 immediately. When making your report, please ask for it to be associated with report reference NFRC200803859141.”