Householders are being warned not to dispose of letters containing personal information in their bins following a number of reported fraud attempts.
Harrow Council has received a number of calls from residents who say they were contacted by someone claiming to be from their council tax department. The residents were advised they had overpaid their council tax bills and were told to call another number to provide their bank details to receive a refund.
The bogus callers knew the victims’ council tax reference numbers, full names and addresses. It is believed that the fraudsters could have obtained this information from people’s blue bins.
Protect yourself from fraud
- Documents containing your name, address, billing information or customer account numbers should be shredded before being disposed of.
- Additionally, you will never be asked to provide your bank details over the phone in order to receive a refund.
- An identity protection service such as ProtectMyID monitors your Experian credit report and alerts you to potential fraudulent activity via email or SMS. If you are a victim of identity fraud, a dedicated caseworker will work with you to help you resolve any problems. Visit the ProtectMyID website to learn more.
Read more about this latest council tax scam on Harrow Council’s website.
Please note: Action Fraud is not responsible for the content on external websites.
To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
See also:
Council tax fraud
Tax rebate scam
Overpaid council tax scam
