Harrow Council is warning people to be extra vigilant after it received calls from concerned residents thought to be the target of a potential banking scam.
The council has received a number of calls from residents this week who say they were contacted by someone claiming to be from Harrow ‘s council tax department, saying that they had overpaid their bill. They were then told to call a telephone number and provide their bank details to receive a refund.
The fraudulent caller knew the resident’s council tax reference number, full name and address details. It is believed that the fraudsters might be getting this information from people’s blue bins.
Councillor Graham Henson, cabinet member responsible for performance, customer services and corporate services at the council, said: "I would ask all residents to be extra vigilant in shredding all personal information on their documents before disposing of it in their blue bins to stop these fraudsters from getting hold of it.
"The council has systems in place to arrange for the refund of council tax and we would never ask residents to provide their bank details over the telephone.
"Our advice would be that if you have any doubt, check it out. It only takes a moment to contact the council tax department to verify a call or email."
A safe and secure way for residents to monitor their council tax payments is to sign up for a My Harrow Account, where residents can access their bill and a full statement of account, a list of payments made, the instalments to be paid, and any discount or exemption details.
