allaboutwomen

I know what you're thinking - your council tax probably already feels like a scam, but a gang of fraudsters has found a new way to target council taxpayers - using tax payment as a way of emptying their accounts.

So how are they doing it, and how can you protect yourself?

The gang contacts victims by email or phone, saying they can cut their tax bill if they pay by direct debit. All they ask for in return is your personal details, including your bank details - which they say is in order to set up the direct debit. Once you hand these over, they are then free to take all the cash sitting in your account

Victims
At the moment only a few areas have been targeted that the authorities know about - including Lewisham and Enfield in London. The calls and emails are claiming to be from the 'Council Tax Head Office in London'. Naturally there's no such place. At the moment they are giving out three phone numbers - 020 8123 0965, 020 3286 1358 and 020 8123 2739.

The councils have issued warnings on their websites, but how do you protect yourself from this one?

The first answer has to be that unfortunately there's no council tax discount for paying by direct debit - ever. So if you are contacted with this claim I'm afraid it's always a scam.

On a more general note, the usual rules apply. If someone contacts you out of the blue asking for your details - whether by email, letter or phone, you can't ever be safe if you hand over your personal information.

If you think they may be genuine, then do a separate email search for their contact details, and contact the institution they are claiming to be from, to ask what's going on.You can also get advice from Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, who are kept abreast of the latest scams.

By far the best approach is to never give out these details unless you are 100% certain who you are dealing with - and if you are being cold-called or receive an unsolicited email then you can never be 100% certain of anything.