Anti Money Laundering Supervision-genuine contact?

Verifying that HMRC letter & emails are genuine

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This is not the usual - you have a tax refund, click here! If anyone can help, I would be most grateful.

I need to verify that a letter & subsequent emails from a chap who says he works for the Anti Money Laundering Service Remote Compliance Team is genuine.

I have tried calling HMRC several times, with no success. Either the automated system (tell me, in a few words, why you're calling) doesn't understand me, or it puts me through to VAT (who can't redirect & couldn't find a number, even internally, for AML) or it says they're too busy & hangs up or keeps me hanging on for 20 mins, THEN hangs up!

I'm calling the number on the Anti Money Laundering page. I tried calling the 24/7 number to report suspicious activity but they're too busy to answer that too!

I am scheduled for a 9am phone call FROM this chap tomorrow (yes, I know, but I've had other priorities the last 2 weeks) but just wanted to be sure it's all legitimate. I'm, stressing as it is because they sent me 193 pages of legislation, most of which, surely doesn't apply as I'm 'only' a bookkeeper and I've explained I only process transactions, I do NOT advise, I do NOT deal with clients cash, I do NOT work for anyone I don't meet, I do NOT work for high-cash / overseas / or anyone I don't feel comfortable about and I insist they all have an accountant who surely is also registered & does the necessary compliance anyway?

Anyone else had a letter from Barry Stuart or any dealings with email [email protected]?

Thank you!

 

 

 

Replies (9)

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By Wanderer
11th Jun 2019 18:19

You advertise yourself as

Quote:
Your dependable and reliable fully outsourced Accounts Department
and offer
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Professional Bookkeeping, Administration and Professional Services for Small Businesses
& the regulations apply to amongst other
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external accountants
so the first thing to clarify is exactly what you do and whether the regulations apply to you.
Have a look here for gov.uk advice:-
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-accountancy-ser...
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Replying to Wanderer:
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By tracey2412
11th Jun 2019 18:33

I'm not disputing that the requirement to be registered does apply. I am more worried that they are asking for copies of my risk assessments & policies, procedures & control documents (they're not written down, it's only me, they're in my head!) & appear to want me to have a detailed knowledge of the entire 193 pages of legislation they have sent me links to. Also, a list of my clients. IF I had time to read 193 pages & IF I understood it all, I'm worried that actually doing the compliance will take me more time than actually doing the work & therefore it wouldn't be viable to continue. But initially I just want to check whether it's a genuine contact or some elaborate scam or a joke (I'm hoping one of the latter two to be honest!).

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Replying to tracey2412:
David Winch
By David Winch
11th Jun 2019 19:27

If time is limited I suggest you focus on Regs 18, 19, 21 (including 21(6)), 24, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 40, and 5 & 6.
David

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Replying to davidwinch:
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By tracey2412
11th Jun 2019 19:41

Thank you David, I'll take a look - bedtime reading!

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Replying to tracey2412:
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By Wanderer
12th Jun 2019 09:17

Are you actually already registered with HMRC then?

If the regulations apply to you then compliance isn't optional.

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By Malcolm McFarlin
12th Jun 2019 12:09

I had a MLR visit a number of years ago and the officer requested a copy of my MLR Policy and procedures and a copy of my current customers.
You need to have written MLR policies and procedures.

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By tracey2412
12th Jun 2019 12:20

Thank you to everyone who took the time & trouble to reply. However, my question was about how to verify the contact was genuine rather than about registration & compliance. I had put the background in as context - next time I will be more concise!

The telephone call took 90 mins. The chap was thorough & positive, listened to my circumstances & didn't just quote the rules. The upshot is that I am very low risk as are my clients as I am picky about who I take on in the first place. I just have to record it all & review regularly & have everything in writing instead of my head.
Now, he sends me a letter of all the notes he made. I have to agree its a true version of what we said. THEN they send me an outcome which may be advisory or a warning or a penalty. I think I'll get the middle one. Then I'll have 3 months to prove I've complied as discussed. Panic over, a little work to do, could be worse.

Thanks again.

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By tracey2412
12th Jun 2019 12:37

Thank you to all those who took time & trouble to reply although I was actually after a way to verify the authenticity of the contact rather than advise on registration & compliance. Note to self - be clearer & more concise next time.

The call was 90 mins long. The chap was thorough & positive though firm on my obligations. Upshot - I do actually do risk assessments, but I need to record them in writing. I do have some procedures but again I need to record & write & update as necessary not just keep them in my head.

Panic over, a little work to do, it could have been worse.
Again, thank you.

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By chasmeehan
18th Jun 2019 13:05

The question was about verifying the contact who was using [email protected].
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phishing-and-bogus-emails-hm-...
Suggested approach -

After checking that this is not a spoofed email address (hover over the sender name in chrome or copy/paste it into notepad to see the true email string), the question arises - surely this should have been "hmrc.gsi..gov.uk" rather than "hmrc.gov.uk" ? But it turns out that from March 2019 the "gsi" is being dropped from civil service departmental email addresses - https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2017/12/14/why-government-email-is-chan...

so one option to verify contact further would have been to send a separate email (not clicking reply but retyping the email address) to what appears to be a team mailbox (amis.rcedinburgh) and possibly - no gurantee!- getting a response from there

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