TV Licensing

Helping you avoid TV Licensing scams – and how to report one

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We want to help you keep your data safe. On this page we show you how to spot a TV Licence scam email and report one. We also have advice on text and phone call scams and letter scams. You can check your licence or payment plan by signing in on our website.
 

Already entered your personal details on a suspicious site?
Report it to Action Fraud or call them on 0300 123 2040. If this included card or bank account details, talk to your bank immediately.

Report an email scam
Send any scam or suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) will investigate. If the email links to a scam website it will be blocked or taken down.

Watch our video on how to spot a TV Licence scam and where to report it.

STOP. CHECK. ASK. TV Licensing guide - How to identify genuine TV Licensing communications, and how to spot the scammers - English (PDF – 363 Mb – opens in a new window)

What are the main things to look out for?

We include the name and/or part of your postcode in our emails. Many scams simply use your email address or say ‘Dear Customer’.

We send our emails from donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk (or donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk).

If you are a TV Licensing payment card customer and you make mobile payments via the TVL Pay app, you may receive emails from noreply@paypoint.com. The sender’s name will show as ‘TVL Pay’.

Check the email address. Scammers often hide the true email address they’re using. On your device, select the sender’s name (or email address) to show the actual email address.

Watch out for ‘email spoofing’. This is where scammers are able to ‘spoof’ the genuine TV Licensing email address such as donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk.

Email spoofing is a technique used in spam and phishing emails to trick users into thinking the message came from a genuine person or company.

Make sure you click or tap the email address shown to reveal if a different email address is being used.

What do TV Licence scam emails say - or ask you to do?

Scam emails often tell you that you need to make an urgent payment. We only email customers about payments if they have missed one. You can sign in to your account to check.

They often say you can get a refund or a cheaper licence. We will never do this unless you have contacted us about a refund and we are replying to you.

TV Licence scam emails may show a fake licence number. Your licence number is on letters we send you, or search your email inbox for emails from ‘donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk’ (or ‘donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk’).

If you’ve clicked a link, are you on the real TV Licensing website?

Check the web address. Make sure you’re at tvlicensing.co.uk or spp.tvlicensing.co.uk

We won’t ask for:

• your mother’s maiden name
• your date of birth (unless you’re over 74 and applying for a free TV Licence)
• your card details to make a missed payment UNTIL you’ve signed in using your licence number, surname and postcode.

Need help to check if a TV Licensing email is genuine?

Here’s an example of a real TV Licensing email. We’ve marked it up to help you spot if an email you’ve received is a scam.

1. Check the sender

Genuine TV Licensing emails are sent from donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk, donotreply@spp.tvlicensing.co.uk or tvlfieldresearchteam@tvlicensing.co.uk.

2. Partial Postcode

If you have provided us with your postcode details, our emails will include part of your postcode and/or the name on the licence.

3. Look for your name

If you’ve given us your name, then we’ll always address you using your last name and title. The scammers won’t normally have that information about you. So, watch out for emails that only address you as “Dear client” or “Dear customer” – or just use your email address (or part of it).

4. Check the spelling and grammar

Because scammers can’t use our genuine TV Licensing web addresses or email addresses, they’ll try to use slightly different spellings – look out for things like hyphens and full stops in odd places.

Be suspicious too if there are mistakes in the email with capital letters or other grammatical errors, like missing full stops – this could be a scam.

5. Check the links

Be wary of emails promising money/refunds. For example, phrases such as, “click below to access your refund”, followed by a request to provide your credit card or bank details (we would never process a refund in this way).

Always check links in an email before clicking or tapping them.

Phone and text scams

 

Report a scam text.
Help stop the scammers by sending a photo or screenshot of the message to textscam@tvlicensing.co.uk
 

Firstly, what we'll never do:

Send you a text message to tell you you’re entitled to a refund

Ask you to set up a payment plan or provide your bank details by text message

Ask you to enter any personal details into our website until you’ve successfully signed into your licence.

Before you enter any information, you should check the website address is our genuine website tvlicensing.co.uk (or spp.tvlicensing.co.uk).

So, when do TV Licensing send text messages?

If you’re a TV Licensing payment card customer, we may send you a text to ask you to make a payment. If you’re a Simple Payment Plan customer, the link takes you to our secure payment provider (tvlspp.paythru.com)

If you’re a TV Licensing payment card customer and you make mobile payments via the TVL Pay app, you may receive text messages from ‘TVL Pay’ to confirm your payment.

If you’ve just signed up for Direct Debit, you may receive a text message letting you know when your first payment will be taken

If you’ve contacted us by phone or on our automated service – we may send you a confirmation message or a satisfaction survey

If you receive your licence through the post, you may receive a message asking you to go paperless

If the message asks you to call a number, please check it’s one of these numbers:

• 0300 555 0293 if you pay by payment card
• 0300 790 6082 if you pay by Direct Debit
• 0300 555 0355 if you are a Simple Payment Plan customer

If you’ve received a text which asks you to call any other number, do not call it.

Received a phone call and not sure it’s genuine?

Occasionally we may call you if there’s a problem with your TV Licence. This will usually be about a missed payment, a cancelled Direct Debit, or a reminder to renew.

We’ll call you from either 0300 790 6075, 0300 555 0285, 0300 555 0355 or 0300 303 9686

If you’re not sure the call is genuine, don’t provide any personal information. You can also sign in to view your licence or payment plan.

If you’ve contacted us with a query, one of our team may call you back to discuss it. This may be from a withheld number, but the call will only be regarding the query you’ve raised.

Letter scams

What are the main things to look out for?

Scammers may send you a letter, addressed to you by name, asking you to call or go online to confirm your payment details.

Letters from TV Licensing are genuine if:

you are currently licensed and you have given us your title and last name, we will always use these when we write to you. We’ll also include your TV Licence number.

you are registered as ‘No Licence Needed’, we’ll include that reference number instead of your TV Licence number.

you have been contacted by our Field Research Team, we’ll include your expired licence TV Licence number.

What will scammers try?

A scam letter will often tell you there is a problem with your licence or that you are due a refund. This is to try to get you to go to a fake website or call a fake number to sort it out. If you are ever suspicious or doubtful about what a letter is asking you to do, sign in to your licence to check if anything looks wrong.

Official TV Licensing websites are:

tvlicensing.co.uk

tvl.co.uk

spp.tvlicensing.co.uk

75plan.tvlicensing.co.uk

QR Codes

QR codes in our communications

QR (quick response) codes, like the one shown here, are becoming increasingly common. They can help you reach a website more quickly, using your
mobile phone.

To check if a QR code is genuinely from us, open the camera on your mobile and hover it over the code. It it's from us, you'll see one of the web links below, so you'll know it's safe to tap through:

tvlicensing.co.uk

spp.tvlicensing.co.uk

75plan.tvlicensing.co.uk

And if you can't use the QR code, or you don't want to, we'll always show the full web address in the communication as well, so you can use that to access
the webpage.

How to report an email or text scam

Report an email scam – We support the work of the Government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to help stop scammers.
Send any scam or suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and they will investigate.

Report a text scam – Take a screenshot of the message and send it to textscams@tvlicensing.co.uk

Need more help or advice?

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