Police Investigate Fake Council Tax Fraud

Cyber security authorities have been prompted by Stormont, the Northern  Irish parliament in Belfast, to investigate a fake website address mistakenly printed on council tax bills. Nearly 300,000 ratepayers received letters containing an incorrect web link for making payments.

Concerns have been raised that this web address may have hosted malicious software designed to harm computer systems or devices used by online scammers. 

The Department of Finance stated that the website domain was not government-owned, and officials have reported the site to Action Fraud for further investigation. Action Fraud is the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, operated by the City of London Police.

Rates are a property tax used to fund public services in Northern Ireland and are collected by the Department of Finance's agency, [Land and Property Services (LPS)].

Bills for the new financial year were issued to households and businesses from early April. It is understood that the malicious weblink closely resembled the official address for the NI Direct website. 

BBC  |  Irish News   |   Action Fraud  |    City of London Police  

Image: Nataliya Vaitkevitch

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