POLICE have issued an awareness appeal after a Hounslow resident was targeted by a phone scam.
The householder was called by someone claiming he was owed an £8,000 reward for always paying his council tax on time.
As soon as the resident asked for the contact details of the man on the phone, he hung up.
Police spokesman Roy Wilson said: "We expect that if the resident had not realised it was a scam, the caller would have asked for his account details so he could 'pay the money into his account'.
"We are asking people to never give out their personal or banking account details to cold callers. This is the first scam of this kind in the borough that we are aware of, but we need to let people know. The caller had a strong Indian accent and was at times difficult to understand".
Police are sending out the message that the council would never contact people in this manner and a scam warning has been issued by Trading Standards.
Have you received a call of this kind?
If so, contact jessicathompson@trinitysouth.co.uk
