RESIDENTS are being urged not to respond to scam phone calls which have been reported in the area.

Several residents said they had been called by people claiming to be from Worcester City Council or Malvern Hills District Council and offering them a tax refund.

The person who calls then asks them to hand over their credit card details, saying they will transfer them the cash.

Elizabeth Watkins, from Powick, said she had received one of the calls but refused to hand over her details.

She said: “I had a call from someone purporting to be from Malvern Hills telling us we’d overpaid and were due a refund.

“He said they owed us £68.20 and asked me to confirm our address.”

Mrs Watkins said her suspicions were raised by the fact the address quoted to her was an old one, and not what the current address is commonly known as.

She also said the caller asked for her credit card number, which she refused to give before hanging up.

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Another resident, who lives in Battenhall but did not want to be named, said she had also had one of the calls, this time from someone pretending to be from Worcester City Council and offering them the same amount.

A joint statement on behalf of Malvern Hills District, Worcester City and Wychavon councils, said: “We would urge residents who receive a call like this to put the phone down and report it immediately to Action Fraud on www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 20.

“Nobody from any of the three South Worcestershire Councils would ever call you out of the blue to discuss an issue with your Council Tax and we would never ask you over the phone for your debit or credit card details if we did owe you a refund.

“If you believe your Council Tax is incorrect then you can find out how to challenge it at gov.uk/challenge-council-tax-band.”

West Mercia Police launched its own anti-fraud scheme last year, and is encouraging residents to be aware.

For more information, go to westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2019/november/telephone-scam-awareness/