Warning issued by Which? over scam asking for payment for late census submission

Consumer adviser Which? has warned of scam communication asking for payment for a late or incorrect census submission.

The census was taken in England, Northern Ireland and Wales on March 21 and people were at risk of a £1,000 fine if they did not complete it on time.

However, Which? has assured people that any text, letter, phone call or email which is attempting to take payment for a late or incorrect payment is not legitimate.

Posting on Twitter, the ‘consumer champion’ drew particular attention to a text message asking people to update missing information on their census form and providing a link in order to avoid a £1,000 fine.

It warned people to watch out for the fake message – people should not click the link or provide any information as it could provide access to their bank account.

Which? has provided many updates about scam texts in recent weeks.

In February, it warned of a scam text that was targeting Barclays customers and in March, it drew attention to a scam text message claiming to be from Royal Mail, claiming that a parcel was held due to an unpaid shipping fee.

Like the census text, these messages were scams and used in an attempt to steal bank details.

In order to stay up to date, Which? provides a ‘scam alert service’ – found here .