Council officer apologises as police investigate potential card fraud and taxpayers urged to apply for new cards
Concerns of bank card fraud at Solihull Council(Image: Shannon Fagan/Getty Images)
Police have launched a fraud probe at Solihull Council with potentially hundreds of taxpayers urged to change their bank card details.
The investigation was confirmed by West Midlands Police while the authority said it had contacted those affected.
The alarm was understood to have been raised over claims an agency worker had kept the card details of callers using a contact centre to pay for services.
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A source told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they had been advised to cancel their card and order a replacement. They said they were told up to 500 people could have been affected.
They said: “I assume it was when I phoned to pay for a green bin sticker as that’s the only time in recent years I’ve needed to call the council to pay for anything and I wasn’t able to do it online.”
On social media, one potential victim shared a letter written by Solihull Council officer Andrew Felton on June 20.
The authority’s director or resources said: “I am writing to you because of something that has happened this week.
“An agency worker at the council who took payments over the phone was found to have retained card details of some residents who paid for council services.
“They then emailed these details to their personal email address.
“As soon as this was discovered we took immediate action and involved the police.
“At present we do not know exactly how many people are affected so as a precaution I am writing to everyone who this individual dealt with.
Solihull Council House(Image: Sam Greenway LDR)
“Transactions processed by other staff members are not affected.
“I know this may cause you to be concerned and I would like to apologise for what has happened.
“Our advice is you should contact your bank and let them know your card details may have been shared with a third party without your consent.”
A West Midlands Police spokesperson told the LDRS: “We have received a number of reports of fraud against people in Solihull.
“Officers from our investigations department are looking into the reports and carrying out further enquiries.
“Anyone who has had money fraudulently taken from them can get in touch via 101 or report to Action Fraud.”
A Solihull Council spokesperson said: “As soon as this issue was identified we referred it to the police.
“We also immediately notified all those that this individual dealt with. They were advised to contact their bank promptly and follow any recommended precautions.
“Given this is an ongoing police investigation, we cannot comment further.”