Bogus tax bills warning issued by Highland Council
Highland Council has been alerted to a scam whereby scammers are cold calling and claiming that the resident is due a Council Tax refund or can have their band reassessed on payment of £150.
It comes as the annual bills start to drop on the doormat and arrive in email in-boxes.
The council has said any cold call requests for bank account details should be ignored whether by hanging-up or by deleting the link.
Sheila McKandie, the council's acting head of revenues and customer services, explained: "Any communication with Council Tax payers from the council’s corporate resources service about something like a refund would be in writing.
"We would never cold call asking for bank details.
"Anyone receiving such an unsolicited call is advised to end the call immediately. Under no circumstances give any personal details to the caller.
"If anyone has a neighbour or relative who may be more susceptible to such activity, it would be helpful if this advice was passed on to them.
"If you have any doubt as to the authenticity of the call, please call the council's freephone Council Tax helpline on 0800 393811.”
Highland Council’s trading standards manager David MacKenzie commented: “Our message is for members of the public to be extremely wary when they receive an unsolicited telephone call, text or email offering to reduce or claim back council tax on their behalf.
"This could be a ploy by scammers to gain confidential information such as bank account details from unsuspecting recipients.
"Our advice is to be on your guard and don’t respond."
