A WARNING has been issued by East Renfrewshire Council’s Trading Standards about a scam which claims to give people refunds on their Council Tax.

A number of residents have reported receiving this email and local people are being urged never to give out any banking details by email or over the phone following an unsolicited request.

The email, which appears to be sent by ‘Miss Rourke’ from Unity Partnership, claims that the receiver is due a Council Tax refund and by clicking on a link and confirming personal details, the money will be credited to your bank account.

Steve Fox, East Renfrewshire Council’s Trading Standards manager, said: “Never answer emails like this offering a refund as it’s guaranteed to be a scam. Scammers usually ask for information such as your bank account details, name, address and age.

“All of these details will be added to your ‘scam profile’ and sold to other scammers or even worse, could be used for possible identity theft. If you receive any of these emails, you should change your e-mail address to be on the safe side.”

Research has found that eight per cent of people will fall victim to at least one scam in their lifetime. In extreme cases, people can lose hundreds of thousands of pounds to scams. This costs the UK economy £3.5bn each year.

A local resident who was targeted by the email said: “I was wary when I received this email and picked up the phone to Trading Standards for advice before doing anything. I was called back within the hour and advised that this was a scam and to delete straight away. It’s a shame because a lot of people will fall for this.”

To report a possible scam or find out more information on Trading Standards issues, call the team on 0141 577 3782.