Fraudsters are targeting council tax payers by offering refunds or threatening fines.
The Local Government Association (LGA) revealed there had been a fresh wave of sophisticated scams offering bogus refunds or threatening fines.
The criminals are using text, email and phone calls with a claim to be from the Valuation Office Agency.
A fee of £150 is claimed and in some cases official Gov.uk branding is used.
The LGA said: “Councils will never phone, text or email residents to ask for a payment to release a council tax refund or ask for personal bank details.”
