GOV.UK Fake Council Tax Emails and Phone Calls

Find out more about a recent wave of fake phishing emails and phone calls affecting customers in the Braintree District.

We have recently received reports from residents in the Braintree District who have been getting calls from someone claiming to be from HMRC and requesting for bank details so they could refund an over payment of council tax.

Residents have also been receiving fake emails from HMRC about this. These emails are designed to look like they are from GOV.UK and state that you have overpaid your “City Council Tax” due in late 2017.

THIS IS A SCAM and no-one from Braintree District Council would be telephoning or emailing customers in this manner. We would send a letter to the customer with a refund claim form.

Organisations should never ask you for your bank details over the phone so please be diligent and always ask them to send a letter.

If you receive a fake email, please forward the email to [email protected] and then delete the email. Do not reply to the email, click on the links within the email or enter any personal information.

You can identify whether your email is fake due to a number of factors including:

• The email address does not end in “.gov.uk”
• The email contains spelling and grammar mistakes
• The email does not specify it is intended for you, it uses a general greeting instead of your name

An example of this email with the highlighted issues can be found below:

For more information on how to identify scam emails, please see the GOV.UK guidance on phishing emails, texts and phonecalls.

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