Scam Awareness
We are warning residents to be on their guard against a scam offering fake Council Tax refunds in an attempt to get bank account details.
Scammers pretending to work for the Council are phoning residents and claiming they are from the Council Tax team. They then inform residents that they have overpaid their Council Tax. The caller then requests bank details with the promise of a refund for the alleged overpayment.
Once the resident has provided bank details, they are given another number to call which informs them that they need to pay an administration fee to get the refund.
You should never give your bank details to anyone who calls out of the blue claiming to be a member of our staff.
The Council would never ring a resident to ask for their bank details to issue a refund. If an overpayment had been made, and a refund is due, we would either refund the money directly if it had been paid by direct debit, or send a credit notice to the bill payer's address.
Please ensure that when making online payments for Council Tax you use the Council's own online payment site.
Always make sure that the address of any website you are making a payment through starts with 'https:'
Further information on what to do if you suspect you have received a scam letter or email can be found on the Action Fraud website.