East Renfrewshire council has warned of an electricity bill swindle that has hit the area.

The trading standards team was alerted to the illicit scheme by Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood Councillor Ralph Robertson.

Cllr Robertson received an email telling him that MailScanner had detected a possible fraud attempt from track.vuelio.uk.com.

The email claimed the recipient would be eligible for a discounted energy tariff. It directed the user that they would be able to view their updated bill by clicking on the link which would open to a method of payment.

Cllr Robertson said: “I immediately smelled a rat and so contacted our trading standards team for advice and would urge residents and businesses to do likewise.” Steve Fox, the council’s principal trading standards officer, added:“My advice is that if anyone contacts you by any method to ask for payment for bank details, never give them out.

“If they give you a number or email to check that they are legitimate, ignore it.

“Find a contact method from a previous bill and check it.

“Only when you are certain everything is above board go ahead.”