‘Vulnerable’ NHS patients threatened with GP surgery ‘removal’ as new warning issued

The NHS has issued an important alert warning patients about a new scam involving fake phone calls. The public is being urged to stay alert or risk falling victim to the fraud

‘Vulnerable’ NHS patients are facing threats of ‘removal’ from their GP practices through a sinister new phone scam sweeping the nation.

The public is being urged to remain vigilant after reports emerged of a fresh con in which criminals masquerade as receptionists and medics through automated bogus calls.

The calls seemingly originate from UK mobile numbers. They falsely claim that patients must refresh their GP records and surrender personal details or face being struck off their surgery.

These calls are completely fraudulent, however. The NHS will never ring patients demanding record updates, threatening removal from a GP list, or requesting personal or financial details, reports the Mirror.

In an ‘Important Patient Alert’ released by the NHS, the health service warned: “We have been made aware of recent scam phone calls where individuals are falsely claiming to be from our GP practice. In these calls, the scammer may say that if you do not ‘update your records’ over the phone, you will be removed from the practice list.

“They may ask for personal information, such as your address, NHS number, or bank details. Please be assured that we will only call you from our official practice phone number. If you’re unsure, you can always hang up and call us back using the number listed on our website.”

“We will never threaten to remove you from our patient list during a phone call unless our zero-tolerance policy has been breached, and never due to your not sharing information. We will never ask for your financial information.”

So why are individuals falling prey to these scams?

Cybersecurity specialist and IT security professional Javvad Malik, who serves as the lead CISO advisor at KnowBe4, explained that such scams are successful because they exploit authority, urgency, and emotion – taking advantage of vulnerabilities. He identifies these as three triggering constructs designed to provoke victims into acting impulsively.

“GP records sound legitimate, and when you’re busy, your instinct is to comply rather than challenge,” Malik stated. “Pause and never trust an unsolicited call demanding immediate action.

“And absolutely never share personal or payment details over the phone from an inbound call.”

Elsewhere, Sir Keir Starmer has suggested that the two-child benefit cap could be scrapped, stating that the Government would implement “a number of measures” to “drive child poverty down”.

This follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ indication that she was open to abolishing the limit in her November 26 Budget.

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine programme, Sir Keir said: “I can tell you in no uncertain terms I’m determined to drive child poverty down. It is what the last Labour government did, and it’s one of the things we were proudest of.