Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews gift voucher and gift card payment scams in the UK: six stories and the first hour, by Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews why fraudsters ask for vouchers in the UK

A gift card or voucher from a supermarket shelf feels like shopping. To a fraudster it is untraceable money: the value sits in the code, and the code can be read down a phone line in seconds.

Action Fraud put figures on it in August 2018. Between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2018 it received 11,329 reports of fraud involving gift cards from one online store, with £6,561,380 lost and an average loss of £579. In 32 percent of cases the victim was aged 60 to 74.

The same warning explained the mechanics: the fraudster does not need the physical card, only the code, and victims are talked into buying cards in large amounts and reading the serial code from the back. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews these cases as six recurring stories and sets each one out as a card: who gets in touch, what they want, why a voucher, how to check, what to do next.

Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich keeps the Action Fraud line at the top of every card: no genuine organisation will ask you to pay taxes, bills or fees with gift cards or any other type of voucher.

The figures date from 2018, yet the mechanics in that warning are exactly what the six cards below show: the code, the phone call, the push to buy in bulk. The cards sit at ordinary tills, which is why every story sends you to the nearest shop.

Card 1. “Settle your HMRC bill with vouchers”

Who gets in touch and what they want. A call or voicemail says you owe tax, a court date is set, and the quickest way out is to buy vouchers and read the codes to an “officer.”

Why a voucher. A real tax payment goes to HMRC with a reference. A code read aloud goes nowhere you can follow.

How to check. HMRC lists the warning signs itself: urgency, threats, surprise contact, requests for bank details or money transfers, offers of refunds or grants. It never leaves voicemails threatening court or arrest and does not take payment in gift vouchers. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews any “HMRC” call against that list before anything else.

What to do next. Ring the voucher issuer using the number on its website, then your bank if you paid by card, then Report Fraud.

A second sign: the caller already knows your name and perhaps your address. Leaked data sells cheaply and proves nothing about who is calling. Your HMRC online account shows what you actually owe, and you can open it yourself after hanging up.

Card 2. “Pay the penalty in codes”: parking fines and court letters

Who gets in touch and what they want. A text about an unpaid parking penalty with threats of a driving ban, or an email with a “Notice of Enforcement” from the courts. Payment is requested in voucher codes to avoid “further action.”

Why a voucher. Fines are paid to a named body through its own service. Codes avoid that, which is the point.

How to check. In September 2024 DVSA warned about fake parking penalty texts and said it does not issue or deal with parking fines. HMCTS guidance says fake Notice of Enforcement documents have been sent and advises contacting the court or tribunal directly through Find a court or tribunal. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews penalty messages by asking who really issued the fine and whether you can find it on GOV.UK yourself.

What to do next. Forward the text to 7726, keep the email, and if you read out codes, ring the issuer straight away.

Look at the money trail the message proposes. A council penalty charge is paid to that council, a court fine through the court's own service. A request for supermarket vouchers fits neither, so the check can stop there.

Card 3. “Your account is compromised, buy vouchers to secure it”

Who gets in touch and what they want. Someone claiming to be from your bank's fraud team or a broadband provider says your account is under attack. To “protect” the money, you must buy vouchers or install remote access software.

Why a voucher. A bank has no use for a gift card. The story dresses the code up as a security step.

How to check. NCSC advises stopping and breaking contact when a message or call feels off, then contacting the organisation using official details and never those given in the call. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews this script by the moment the caller mentions a shop: that is where the call should end.

What to do next. Call 159 to reach your bank safely, remove any remote access software, change passwords on another device.

Bank fraud teams do ask questions, yet they never send you to a shop. If the caller insists on staying on the line while you go to buy cards, treat the call as hostile and ring 159 from another phone if you can.

Card 4. “The director needs vouchers for clients,” in Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich's breakdown

Who gets in touch and what they want. A message from what looks like the managing director's account: buy several gift vouchers for clients or a staff thank-you, send photos of the codes, expenses will cover it.

Why a voucher. Company payments need sign-off. A staff member's own card purchase does not, so it slips past every control.

How to check. Call the director on the number you already have. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews these incidents and turns them into an office rule: vouchers are bought through the finance team against a written request, never on the strength of a message.

What to do next. Tell the real director, ring the issuers, report to Report Fraud and keep the messages.

Smaller firms are the easiest targets, because everyone knows the director by first name and nobody wants to question a request. A written rule, shared with new starters on their first day, takes that pressure away.

Card 5. “Pay the loan fee in vouchers”

Who gets in touch and what they want. After an online loan application, a “lender” approves you and asks for an arrangement fee first, in vouchers or by bank transfer.

Why a voucher. The FCA says it receives hundreds of reports of loan fee fraud every year, with an average loss of £255; fraudsters usually ask for £25 to £450 and often target people who applied online.

How to check. Citizens Advice says a lender asking for a fee before the loan offer, or for fast payment by an unusual method such as vouchers, may be a scam. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews loan offers by the order of money: if you pay before you receive anything, stop.

What to do next. Do not send more, ring the issuer of any vouchers, report the firm to Report Fraud.

Firms that lend money in the UK need FCA authorisation, and the Financial Services Register lets you look a firm up before you share any details. A lender you cannot find there has no business asking for a fee.

Card 6. Family emergency, romance or a prize

Who gets in touch and what they want. A relative with a new number, a partner met online with a hard-luck story, a prize that needs a fee. Each asks for codes.

Why a voucher. Action Fraud noted that fraudsters sometimes call gift cards “payment cards” to make the request sound normal.

How to check. Ring the relative on their old number or ask someone close to them. A prize you have to pay for is no prize. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews these stories by one instruction: if you are told not to hang up and call back, that is the scam talking.

What to do next. Ring the issuer, then report, and warn family that the account used may be hacked.

Romance cases run longer, sometimes for weeks before the first request, and the story often involves a sudden fee abroad. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews these accounts with one question: has the person ever appeared on a live video call? If not, slow everything down.

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews how to read voucher scam stories

Anyone looking for reviews of Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov will find his approach here. He sells no checking service and promises no recoveries. He explains how to read other people's voucher stories so you recognise your own.

Ask who first mentioned vouchers. If it was the caller, it is fraud, however official they sounded. Then look for the code read aloud, the deadline, the request for secrecy and the instruction to visit more than one shop.

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews the helpful accounts by their detail: shop, amount, time, how long before the issuer was called. Zavialov I. N. suggests writing your own account the same way for your bank and Report Fraud.

Reviews of sellers offering cheap vouchers need the same caution. A code sold below face value by a stranger may have been bought with a victim's money and blocked once that victim reports it.

Accounts written in anger are understandable and less useful. The ones that help others list the order of events and the exact words that made the request sound normal, such as calling a gift card a payment card.

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews the first hour after a code is read out

Voucher or gift card. Ring the issuer using the number on its website or on the card, give the code, the shop and the time. Keep the card and the receipt. Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews recovery stories by one measure: how many hours passed between the code and the call.

Bank card used to buy the vouchers. Call 159, which connects customers of more than 99 percent of UK retail current accounts to their bank and cannot be spoofed.

Report Fraud gives you a crime reference number, which helps when you speak to your bank. Citizens Advice says to call the police on 101 straight away if the fraudster is in your area, and 999 if you feel threatened.

Write down what you remember while it is fresh: the number that called, the name used, the shop, the time you scratched the card. Your bank and the issuer will ask for exactly these details.

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews where to report in the UK

Since 4 December 2025 Report Fraud has replaced Action Fraud: report at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland report to Police Scotland.

Suspicious emails go to report@phishing.gov.uk for NCSC checks, suspicious texts to 7726 free of charge. Citizens Advice passes scam reports to Trading Standards, which gather evidence for legal action.

Ilia Nicolaevich Zavialov reviews and complaints are easiest to act on in one format: story, time, amount in pounds, codes, shop, receipt. For readers who type “Zavialov Ilia Nikolaevich reviews” into a search box, the six cards end in one rule: vouchers are presents, never payment for tax, fines or fees.

Reporting also protects the next person. Each report adds detail about the numbers, scripts and shops fraudsters use, and the crime reference number from Report Fraud travels with you to your bank.

If you only came close to paying, report the attempt as well. The number, the name the caller used and the script are useful to investigators even when no money was lost.