Hartlepool residents warned of council tax scam

The warning follows an alert issued by the National Anti-Fraud Network after a London resident received a letter, seemingly from their local council, relating to a potential reduction in council tax and claiming it was part of the Government’s response to Covid-19.

The letter directed them to what appeared to be a Government website where they were prompted to enter a six-digit reference number contained within the letter.

Upon entering the number, the address that the letter was sent to was displayed and the resident was asked to provide certain personal information. Both the letter and the website were fake, but appeared to be of good quality.

Residents receiving such a letter are asked to note:

• The web address in this case ended .co.uk when, almost invariably, online business conducted by local and central government organisations in the UK will use the .gov.uk address. The use of the word “gov” anywhere in a web address other than immediately before .uk may well signal an attempted fraud

• The standard of English used in the letter falls far below what a council would use in correspondence with the public

• Any council tax correspondence sent out by Hartlepool Borough Council will always include the recipient’s council tax account number

The accuracy of this number can be verified by double checking it with the account number included on annual council tax bills issued by the authority in March.

Anyone receiving a letter relating to council tax from Hartlepool Borough Council and who doubts its authenticity, call 01429 284277.

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