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.

An Australian man employed by Kent County Council is suing the authority because his colleagues would greet him with "G'day sport!" and he claims this is racist.

Geoff Stephens says the "racism" has left him on "a cocktail of anti-depressants".

Mr Stephens, 48, works for Kent County Council as a community warden in the village of Dymchurch. He has lived in the UK for 26 years. He says the "racial abuse" includes constant jokes about Australia and the stress of listening to them will "eventually kill him". He said that he has asked his colleagues to stop the jokes, but they refused.

Along with "G'day sport!" they kept asking him if his girlfriend is named Sheila and joked about kangaroos. He has been on sick leave for the past six months, suffering from depression. He is receiving counselling and has been prescribed drugs.

Mr Stephens was part of a team that fights anti-social behaviour, but claims he is now the victim of it. Part of his job has been setting up youth clubs to give teenagers things to do instead of getting into trouble.

He used to be an immigration officer at the Port of Dover.

He said: "I'm now on a cocktail of medication. I've only been able to sleep for three hours a night since August, and the physical and mental exhaustion will eventually kill me. I feel like my life has been ripped apart. I loved my job with a passion and I did a lot of good work. I built up a good rapport with the local youths, but the village will now suffer from not having a regular community warden in place.

"I read about the growing anti-social problems, and I believe it's got worse since I left my job."