Prevent financial fraud against your farm business
How you can protect your farming business from fraud and know what to do if you experience or suspect fraud.
Fraudsters may target farmers and landowners who receive grant payments with fake emails and text messages.
Attempted fraud
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) are aware that some farmers may receive emails, texts and telephone calls claiming to be from them. The messages can include links to fake websites designed to look like an authentic RPA or Defra online service.
Genuine emails from RPA may include a link to the Rural Payments service to allow you to check your personal and business details are up to date.
Defra and RPA will never send text messages with links to websites asking you to confirm your personal details or payment information. They will never ask you to make a payment over the telephone.
You may be invited to complete surveys via text message. These will include a link, but they will never ask for personal data or bank information.
If in doubt, call the Rural Payments helpline on 03000 200 301 Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm.
These are the main email addresses you should expect from Defra or RPA:
- ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
- rural.payments.service@notifications.service.gov.uk
- defra.payments@notifications.service.gov.uk
- ruralpayments@rpa.gov.uk
- ruralpayments@rpa-emails.com
- rpa@notifications.service.gov.uk
- Donotreply@admin.ruralpayments.service.gov.uk
- FTFClaimSubmission@rpa.gov.uk
- FETFEnquiries@rpa.gov.uk
- FETFClaims@rpa.gov.uk
- FTF@rpa.gov.uk
- RDPEPostPaymentMonitoring@rpa.gov.uk
- GSpostpayment@rpa.gov.uk
- GSClaimQueries@rpa.gov.uk
- GSClaimSubmission@rpa.gov.uk
- Accounts.Receivable2@rpa.gov.uk
What you should do
If you receive a suspicious email or text, do not open the link and delete the item.
If you receive a suspicious telephone call, do not discuss your bank account details or make a payment over the telephone with someone you do not know.
To protect yourself from fraud be cautious about what information you share externally, particularly on social media, and never share your passwords with anyone.
How to report fraud
If you suspect an attempted fraud, contact:
RPA’s Fraud Line
Telephone: 0800 347 347 Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm
RPA’s Fraud Referral Team
Email: FraudInConfidence@rpa.gov.uk
Post: Fraud Referral Team, PO Box 69, Reading, RG1 3YD
If you think you have been the subject of fraud, you can forward suspicious text messages to 7726 as reports to mobile providers.
Action Fraud (the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime)
Telephone: 0300 123 2040
Updates to this page
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Page updated to include more email addresses. Also to include genuine emails from RPA may include a link to the Rural Payments service to allow customers to check their personal and business details are up to date. Customers may be invited to complete surveys via text message. These will include a link, but they will never ask for personal data or bank information.
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Added Rural Payments service email address (rural.payments.service@notifications.service.gov.uk) to list of expected email addresses.
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Title, summary and text reworded to give customers more clarity who the information applies to and what they need to do. Details have not changed.
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Updated list of main RPA email addresses
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General text update and email address removed.
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First published.