City Hall warning of fake council officer phone scam

Published: 8th April, 2011

CITY Hall has issued a warning after scam callers posing as council officers contacted residents to demand  their bank details.

The crooks have been ringing people across Westminster and telling them they are entitled to a rebate of up to £7,500. 

But first they ask their victims to hand over bank details so they can take an “administration fee” of £95 to process the refund. They are then asked to make the payment to a “Derek Williams” via a Western Union transaction.

The scam is only thought to have been running for the past week, but already 12 residents have caught on to the con and contacted the council’s trading standards team.

The police are looking into the matter.

Councillor Melvyn Caplan, Westminster’s cabinet member for finance, advised people not to give their personal details, particularly their bank details or pin over the phone.

He said this should not be done under any circumstances even if the caller claims to be from the police or the council.