Warning over Dundee Council Tax rebate scam
Fraudsters are attempting to con householders in Dundee by pretending to be from the city council's treasury department, officials have said.
The scammers claim that a council tax rebate is due and ask people to call a number and give their bank details.
Trading Standards have warned people not to be taken in by the "cruel deception".
Dundee City Council said it would always contact people by letter if a rebate was due.
Craig Melville, depute convener of the authority's environment services committee, said about a dozen calls from worried householders had been received by the council this week.
"What happens is that someone telephones claiming to be from Dundee City Council's treasury department. They use your name and give you a reference number and a telephone number to call," he said.
"On doing so the person on the other end confirms your name and reference number then tells you that you have got a council tax rebate and asks for your bank account details so that the money can be paid in."
Mr Melville said people should not be taken in by this "sophisticated UK-wide scam".
The scam was detected in autumn 2010 and had now come back with an "increased level of refinement", the councillor said.
People who suspect that someone is trying to defraud them have been asked to contact Trading Standards at Dundee City Council.