Council Tax refund scam: how to spot it
Received an email claiming you're owed a Council Tax refund? It’s a scam – here’s how to tell.
Scammers are sending out fake emails claiming households are owed a Council Tax refund.
The emails state that you’ve paid too much tax over the last year and can claim your refund by following a link and entering your personal information.
Clicking on the link in the email takes you to a website controlled by the crooks.
Council Tax refund scam warning, from Halton Borough Council. Read the story here @EndScamming @ScambusterScams @haltoncab https://t.co/KxKr3qD8rM pic.twitter.com/sO6Nz4dJGY
— Halton Council (@HaltonBC) February 25, 2019
What do the emails say?
Lots of the mails come from an email address with ‘citycouncil’ in it, like this one above.
They normally start with a generic introduction, such as ‘Dear customer’. Many people who've received the scam mails report on Twitter that it's signed off by a fictitious person called ‘Andrew Walsh.’
Others have said that the signature reads ‘Alison Walsh', is signed off as a specific Council or with a company name.
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How to tell it's fake
Always check the spelling and grammar. Phishing emails often make spelling errors or have dodgy wording, something that official Council emails tend to avoid.
The link in the email will not be from the council. Visit your local council’s official website to check what a link from them would look like.
In general, avoid clicking on any links from an email address you don't recognise.
If you're still unsure, the Government says the best way to stay safe is by contacting the VOA or your Council directly to check if you’re due a refund. They’ll be able to tell you if it’s genuine.
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Comments
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Council tax IS a scam. Our local council forces us to pay council tax then wastes it on unnecessary buildings and features. the latest scam? A theatre. supposedly costing £25million, it's now come in at around £47million. If you employed a builder to carry out some work and he quoted you a price, would you carry on employing him if that price started rocketing day by day? of course you wouldn't - but when you have access to a bottomless pit of money - ie the taxpayer, you can be as stupid as you like - and the worst part for us is that there is nobody overseeing these wastrels.
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I don't know about those scams, but there's a council tax scam that Uttlesford District Council operates unashamedly. On entirely specious grounds, the UDC finds ways of denying people living alone their legally entitled single-occupant discount. These people appear entirely at the mercy of the UDC's nefarious whim.
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oh yes you can. I can get an 01 or any number for that matter that will skim your bill for up to £15 a min, I will not tell you how to do it, but it does include a bit of natty software. I use a loverly scam of my own on the scamers, 6 seconds is the record sofar, that's the time it takes before the scamer slams the phone on you, makes me laugh every time, Let idiot have his little pitch, then ask were he is calling from............. just say to him ' well, my bit of software on my computer which you have called is telling me are from somwhere else, Oh! yes couple of seconds time I will have your full postal address............BANG, Oh and you never get bothered again.
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15 March 2011