Alert over council tax rebate scam

THE victim of a council-tax rebate phone scam has spoken about her ordeal in a bid to warn others to beware.

The 30-year-old victim, who does not want to be named, was contacted by a woman claiming to be from Oldham Council on Thursday.

She said: “I was told that our house had been rebanded and we were due a rebate of £800. I didn’t think about it at the time but we are in Band A so we couldn’t possibly be in a lower band.

“The woman said I would have to pay a £30 administration fee and asked for my bank details including the issue number and security code on the back of the card.

“I started to get suspicious when the woman asked me to repeat the details to another man and when I refused she got nasty with me. I put my fiancee on the phone and then the woman hung up.

“We immediately called our bank and got them to cancel all our cards.

“Luckily no money was taken but I dread to think what could have happened.

“I phoned Oldham Council to make sure it wasn’t them that called me and they said that quite a few people had contacted them with details of the same scam.

“I can’t believe I fell for something like this, I am usually the first person to warn people about falling for these scams but at the time you don’t think and it seems plausible.

“I would like to warn other people to be vigilant and warn older relatives to be on their guard. If I can fall for something like this anyone can.”

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) issued a warning about the council tax rebate scam last year.

Many households across the country have received calls from crooks claiming to be VOA or council officials who tell their victims that they are eligible for a rebate of thousands of pounds.

VOA director of council tax, Tim Eden, said: “This is outrageous and targets vulnerable people with false promises.

“People must not pay any attention to these crooks and should report such calls to the police. Some of the callers are very aggressive and intimidating to make people pay up, but people should not be fooled into thinking these calls are legitimate.

“The VOA does not ask people for financial details.

“If people have questions about their council tax band, they should go to our website, www.voa.gov.uk, where they can get information on how bands are determined and what to do if they disagree with their banding.”