FENLAND residents are being warned to be on their guard against bogus telephone callers after a man claiming to work for the council rang a woman to offer a council tax refund.

Fenland District Council issued the warning after a woman was called by a man who said she was due to be refunded “lots of money” in overpaid tax.

Claiming to work for “the local council”, he asked for her debit card number and the security number on the back. He did not state Fenland District Council, so it is thought that he may not know the area.

The woman, who knew she had not overpaid her council tax, refused to provide any details and contacted the council immediately.

The caller knew her full name and address as well as the name of her bank. It is not known how he obtained these details or her phone number because she is ex-directory. His call came from a withheld number.

The council have urged people to be extremely careful when receiving calls of this nature and to report any suspicious ones to the police. They are not employing a third party to deal with refunds of council tax.

A spokesman said: “Make sure you ask for the person’s full name and if you have any doubts at all, call us on 01354 654321 to check the caller’s identity. Any member of our staff will fully understand if you want to check whether or not the call is genuine.”