North householders are warned of council tax refund scam
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LOCAL householders are being urged to beware of a scam offering council tax refunds.
Highland Council has once again been alerted to the scam in which residents are cold-called and told they are due a refund or can have their council tax band reassessed upon payment of £150.
Council tax bands are determined by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer who is independent from the Highland Council.
The assessor does not cold call customers nor reassess council tax bands in this way. This is a scam and the scammers are taking advantage of annual council tax bills being sent out at this time.
Anyone who receives an email offering a council tax refund and asking for bank account details by clicking on a link, should ignore it and delete the email. People who are cold-called and asked to provide bank details to receive a refund should ignore the request and hang up.
Householders with queries regarding their council tax band can contact the assessor at assessor@highland.gov.uk
Anyone receiving such an unsolicited call is advised to end the call immediately.
Sheila McKandie, 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 added: “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.
"If residents think that they may be entitled to a reduction in their council tax, they can contact the council tax and benefits helpline on 0800 393811 for advice and assistance."
