Warning issued over bank con (From Bicester Advertiser)

Warning issued over bank con

6:12pm Thursday 10th December 2009

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A PARISH councillor is warning people to be on their guard over a con trick where residents are told they can get help claiming back thousands in council tax.

Rosemary Cox, 68, received a call telling her she was owed £3,000 by Cherwell District Council after a re-banding exercise by the authority.

Cherwell and the Valuation Office Agency say bills have not been re-assessed and no refunds are due.

But the man, who Mrs Cox believed was of Indian origin, told her in order to get the rebate she must pay £99.99.

He said he would send out paperwork for her to sign and then the refund would be paid directly into her bank account.

The man, who called himself Roy Jones, knew her bank details and her address and postcode.

Mrs Cox, of Ludgershall Road, Piddington, near Bicester told her bank, Lloyds TSB Bank, but said staff did not seem concerned.

She said: “The really worrying thing was he knew the whole long number on my bank card.

“He didn’t know the security code but he did know where I banked.

“The bank didn’t seem unduly concerned, but the thing that really bugged me was that he knew my bank number.”

Afterwards she tried to call the man back, but his telephone number had been withheld.

Mother-of-three Mrs Cox is concerned other residents could be duped by the scam.

She said: “I brought it up at the parish council meeting because I thought somehow or another I have got to let people know.”

Cherwell said it had received complaints from a number of residents who had been asked for bank details and promised council tax refunds.

Nicholas Turner, executive member for customer services and IT, said:”Cherwell District Council is not re-assessing council tax bills and never contacts customers in this way asking for bank details.

“I would urge anyone who receives a call like this to hang up. If anyone wants to check if their caller is from the council they can contact us.”

West Oxfordshire District Council said two people had reported the council tax scam.

South Oxfordshire District Council has been contacted by one company which received a call telling them they qualified for a business rate refund.

Vale of White Horse District Council had no similar complaints.

Bert Pridgeon, community liaison officer with Trading Standards, said they were aware of the ruse.

He added: “Debit or credit card long numbers and other account details (name of card holder and expiry dates etc) are criminally obtained.

“These are used in unsolicited phone calls which creates a false impression that the caller knows the consumer's account details.”

He said people were then tricked into giving pin or security numbers.

Lloyds TSB were unavailable for comment.

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