Overview

• Texts and emails telling people to register for the £200–£300 Winter Fuel Payment or face a fake deadline are phishing attempts, with some messages impersonating the DWP or inventing bogus departments.
• Letters confirming entitlement are due in October and most payments will be made automatically into bank accounts in November and December for those born on or before September 21, 1959.
• The DWP says it will not contact people by text or email to ask for bank details; suspicious SMS should be forwarded to 7726 and fraud reported to Action Fraud or the Stop! Think Fraud campaign.
• New rules mean HMRC will reclaim Winter Fuel Payments from individuals with taxable incomes above £35,000, often via PAYE, which could see ineligible recipients see the money appear and then be taken back.
• Separately, the £150 Warm Home Discount is applied automatically to eligible electricity accounts, and officials warn that unsolicited calls asking people to apply or share information are scams.