FRAUDSTERS are targeting local businesses with fake emails claiming to offer £25,000 grants during the pandemic.

A warning form the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), which is a shared service between Bracknell Forest Council, West Berkshire Council and Wokingham Borough Council, urged firms to watch out for the messages last week.

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Emails sent by fraudsters are said to ‘look like they are from local authority finance teams’ advising businesses they have been awarded £25,000 as part of a ‘retail, hospitality and leisure grant’.

Recipients of the emails are told their businesses will receive the grant after qualifying for coronavirus support.

Those business owners who have seen the emails are being urged not to click the links contained in the messages.

A statement from the PPP read: “The email asks that they click on a link to approve the payment.

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“THIS EMAIL IS A SCAM and has not come from your local authority.

“If you receive an email such as this do not click on the link.

“Report the email to your local Citizens Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ or direct to PPP Trading Standards tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk .

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“If you wish to contact your local authority directly with regards to the grant then search for their website independently of any links received in an email such as above.”

This comes after the News reported Age Concern Bracknell Forest was almost the victim of a £20,000 scam.

Hackers posed as a town councillor who asked the charity’s treasurer to send funds to a “bogus HSBC account”.