Dorset Council has been made aware that fake emails have been sent to some businesses claiming to be from the council. The email contains a link to remittance advice for a payment which has not been sent.
The email encourages recipients to click the link to see how much the council has paid into their account. But, by clicking the link the recipient’s device is vulnerable to being infected by malware.
The council’s advice to any business is to be alert to email fraud. If anyone is expecting correspondence from Dorset Council it will originate from an email which ends with @dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. The council will never ask anyone to provide personal information, bank account details or internet banking passwords by email.
Dorset Council asks people to remember the following:
- Were you expecting the email?
- Check for spelling mistakes and poor grammar
- Is the sender’s email domain address correct? Dorset Council only uses the email domain @dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
- Be wary of emails that convey a sense of urgency i.e. ‘you have 24 hours to respond’. This pressure is often added to get a quick response without questioning the content of the email
- Do not click on any links in a suspect email, this is how your device and files can be infected with malware
If you are in any doubt, call Dorset Council on 01305 221000. Do not use any contact information contained in the suspect email – if the email is fake the contact information might be too.
The advice that the email from @dorsetcouncil.gov.uk are genuine is wrong. I got a scam email from arhelpdesk@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. It’s got a link to invoice in HTML format rather than pdf. Never had any dealings with Dorset Council so don’t expect it to be genuine.
Unfortunately, this weekend’s scam was different, you are commenting on a post from 1 April, earlier this year, when our advice about the domain names was relevant. Thanks, Kirstie
We had the same email too from ARHelpdesk@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with an invoice link, also never had any dealings with Dorset Council, and like you concerned that the advice @dorsetcouncil.gov.uk is genuine appears to be wrong!
Hi Sarah, you are commenting on a different scam which is not the same as the one we were hit with last Friday. We’re doing all we can to protect our systems from scammers, but they try new things each time. The advice we were able to offer people during the scam in April is different to the advice we’re offering now. Thanks, Kirstie
I got one too, from arhelpdesk@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk , never lived In Dorset
The Council must have a data breach
Hi Mr Heiko, you are commenting on a different scam which is not the same as the one we were hit with last Friday. We’re doing all we can to protect our systems from scammers, but they try new things each time. The advice we were able to offer people during the scam in April is different to the advice we’re offering now. Thanks, Kirstie
I have today (13/01/23) received an email from arhelpdesk@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk headed Invoices Sent From Dorset Council. I did not open it as I suspected it was bogus, and a little research confirmed it.
Yes, I know it is not the one you were advising about last April. However, the scammers are clearly still operating, and I hope that you have somewhere some updated alert, warning about this issue.
Dear Les, this email was in fact legitimate, if a little clumsy in its language and delivery. Our Communications Team has picked this issue up with the team who issued the email, to gently explain how suspicious this would have looked to residents who received the email with no warning, nor any real indication of what the invoices were for. We’re very sorry for causing you concern.