Council Tax scams, alerts and announcements

Direct Debit Indemnity Fraud

City of Doncaster Council has become aware of a potential fraud related to reclaiming Direct Debit payments.

Residents may be contacted by or be tempted to respond to adverts from fraudsters offering help to reclaim Council Tax payment or other payments paid by Direct Debit.

As part of this fraud, the fraudster will ask you for your bank details. If provided, the fraudster will initiate Direct Debit indemnity claims for monies previously paid by Direct Debit. Once these claims are paid, the fraudster quickly transfers any funds from the victim’s bank account.

As a result of the Direct Debit indemnity claims, victims are left with large Council Tax (or other) debts to re-pay to Local Authorities or other organisations, whilst the fraudsters have gone with substantial funds. 

If you are approached by fraudsters or have been affected by any fraud please contact Action fraud online, or by phone on 0300 123 2040. 

Council Tax refund scam

We are aware of a phishing scam operating in our area and encourage residents to remain vigilant.

Residents have reported receiving telephone calls, emails and text messages from fraudsters claiming to be from their Local Authority or City Council. These messages state that they are due a refund from their Council Tax and request bank account details.

We will never request your bank details in this way. If you are due a refund from your Council Tax or there has been any change to your Council Tax we will send you a bill to show this. If you pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit, we  already hold your details and would refund you into the same bank account. If we do not hold your bank account details, we would send you a refund cheque through the post.

If you do receive what you think is a fraudulent call, do not give out your personal or bank account details and terminate the call. 

If you want to check that the contact you have received is genuine, you can view your Council Tax account online.

Freeman of the Land and refusal to pay Council Tax

We are aware of a number of misleading articles and templates available online, questioning the legality of Council Tax.

Anyone refusing to pay their Council Tax will be subject to recovery action in line with the relevant legislation. Use of arguments held by the Freeman of the Land movement will not delay or prevent recovery action being taken against you. 

We would advise any person taking advice from such sources, to obtain proper legal advice before attempting to use them as a defence against non-payment of their Council Tax liability.

• Find out more about 'Freeman of the Land' and Council Tax

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