ELDERLY residents are being warned about the dangers of a telephone scam which claims to be able to get people a discount on their council tax.

Alan Hook, aged 70, was targeted by the scammers last week and has spoken out to make sure other people who are targeted are aware of the scam.

Mr Hook received a call on Thursday telling him that he is paying too much for his council tax.

He said: “I thought it was Bolton Council when they said that I might be paying too much council tax. They said I was in the wrong band.”

Mr Hook hung up, but the company called him again the following day and tried to obtain his details, including his name and address.

They then said there was a £75 fee for him to achieve the rebate and attempted to get Mr Hook to read out his bank card details.

He refused and hung up the phone again.

Mr Hook, who lives in Ashton Street in Deane, has told his story to try to protect other people.

He said: “People are going to pay it for one reason or another. People are going to be more gullible than me. They are trying to get people’s details and I think it is worrying really.”

An 83-year-old woman who lives in Daubhill, but did not wish to be named, was also targeted by the fraudsters and fortunately recognised the scam and contacted Action Fraud.

She was told by Action Fraud that they are getting 8,000 calls a month from across the country in relation to the scam.

A spokesman for Action Fraud said that it received the report on Tuesday, June 20 and it is currently being reviewed by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

Action Fraud has said that the callers are in no way related to local authorities and residents should not provide any personal information to callers, including card and bank details.

People are warned to never respond to unsolicited phone calls and that the council will never phone out of the blue to discuss a council tax rebate and if you receive a call like this to put the phone down straight away.

No legitimate organisation will ever ask you to pay an advanced fee in order to receive money so never give them your card details.

If you think you have been a victim of fraud, hang up the phone and wait five minutes to clear the line as fraudsters sometimes keep the line open.

Then call your bank or card issuer to report the fraud. Where it is possible use a different phone line to make the phone call.

To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 and for more information about protecting yourself from scams go to www.actionfraud.police.uk