Residents urged to watch out for Council Tax scams

Ryedale District Council has received a number of reports in recent weeks concerning scam emails circulated to residents regarding refunds of Council Tax.

One such example is an email that appears to originate from the central government site direct.gov that implies an account is in credit and for banking details to be supplied in order to issue a refund.

This is one example of how fraudsters are targeting people in this area.

A Ryedale District Council spokesman said: “Residents should be aware that direct.gov would never issue an email concerning a credit due on a Council Tax account.

“Anyone who receive e-mails or phone calls concerning credits on their account are urged not to provide information unless they are certain it is genuine.

“Normally where a transaction occurs that puts an account into credit, a revised Council Tax bill will be issued advising of the credit amount and whether it is due to be refunded automatically.

“Where the amount is not refunded automatically, any refund request should then either be made using the councils’ website www.ryedale.gov.uk or by contacting Local Taxation direct on 01723 232378.”