Reminder About Council Tax Refund Scam

Written by Gloucestershire Constabulary

Gloucestershire Constabulary are reminding residents to be aware of a scam, which promises the recipient a council tax refund.  Last week officers were urging the community to be aware of the scam after a resident received a bogus phone call that Police believe was an attempt to gain the persons banking details. They are now renewing their advice after a second Gloucestershire resident received a similar unsolicited call.

Both householders received a call from a person purporting to be from a ‘Claims Court’, informing them that they qualified for a Council Tax refund. The caller then asked for bank account details to enable the payment to be processed.

Police Crime Reduction Officer for the county, Paul Francis said, “In both of these incidents the residents did exactly the right thing and did not give out any personal details and immediately informed the authorities.

”We would like to urge residents to follow our advice and under no circumstances give any private financial information to any cold call to your home or mobile number.

“We would also like to ask anyone who receives a call similar to these to contact the Police on 0845 090 1234.”

Similar incidents have been reported elsewhere in the country.

The local council have confirmed that any legitimate form of council tax refund would be done free of charge and that the recipient would not be required to divulge bank details.

“Correspondence such as this can appear on the surface to be official but if something appears to be too good to be true, it very often is,” warned Paul Francis.

“We would suggest that you treat all ‘cold calls’ with suspicion and that you always make enquiries with the company or organisation to confirm the call is genuine. For example, ask the caller for their full name, the telephone number of their head office and the location where they work. Genuine callers will be happy to confirm these details.”

If you believe you have been a victim of fraud relating to a this or a similar letter please contact Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 090 1234 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting incident number 232 of November 11.