COVID-19: grant email scam

Local councils have been alerted to a scam email being circulated to local businesses in our area.

The fake email uses an official looking GOV.UK heading but is a scam aimed at extracting bank details from firms.

A copy of the fake email is below.

If you own a business, please be aware that:

• Direct Gov is not managing the grant process - your local council is

• The council will only ask for bank details via the secure form on their websites

• If they have a query about your business's bank details, they will only contact you from their council email address, eg. Rotherham: Treasurymanagement@rotherham.gov.uk (if you hover over any email address it will confirm its name). Note that, sometimes, emails can be adjusted, but hovering over will confirm the mailbox

If your business is suspicious about requests for banking details they should call their local council via the contact numbers found on their website, alongside the business support grant information.

If you know anyone that owns a business, please share this information and let’s stop local businesses being duped.