In a statement from the council, a spokesperson said: “We’re getting reports that residents are receiving emails claiming to be from the council, stating there is an outstanding Council Tax balance due on their account and asking them to click on a link to check their payments.
“The reported e-mails have been sent from “District Tax Administration <panddh@phigham.plus.com>” and from rh@raysandy.plus.com
“These emails are a scam and should be ignored or deleted.
“At the moment, the council issues payment reminders by post only.”
Council Leader, Rob Stewart has also cautioned people against engaging with the email.
Writing on social media, he said: “We have received reports of scam emails being sent to residents. They look like council tax payment reminders e-mail with a fake link to click on.
“Please DO NOT click on the link as these are scam emails. These emails are not sent by the Council Tax team and should be deleted.”
The UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says the purpose of a scam email is often to get you to click a link. This will take you to a website which might download a virus to your computer, or steal passwords or other personal information. This is sometimes known as ‘phishing’.
The NCSC has the power to investigate and remove scam email addresses and websites and encourages people to report a suspicious emails to them. If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, you can forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk
The NCSC says that by reporting phishing attempts you can protect others from cyber crime online, reduce the amount of scam emails you receive and make yourself a harder target for scammers.
