FRAUDSTERS claiming to work for council tax collection teams in York are preying on residents in the city.

A string of complaints from people living in the Holgate area have been received by City of York Council relating to telephone, email and doorstep scams. The hoaxers claimed to represent a London-based firm on the authority’s behalf and asked for credit card numbers and bank details.

Another incident involved two suited men knocking on residents’ doors in Chapelfields, where they claimed to be from the council and wanted to speak to their targets about council tax. North Yorkshire Police have been informed.

Matt Boxall, the council’s trading standards manager, said: “This type of scam is popular at the moment, so we are urging residents to be vigilant.

“Well-known organisations do not send email messages asking their customers to update or verify their personal and security details. If you receive one of these emails or a similar one, you should ignore it and shouldn’t open any website in the email.

“I also ask anybody who has been visited by a doorstep trader in the last few days to let us have any paperwork or details regarding any incidents, including descriptions of the sellers and the vehicles used.”

Anybody wanting to report an incident should phone Consumer Direct on 08454 400506.