An 80-year-old Spalding pensioner feared he was being targeted by a scam after receiving a call about a substantial Council Tax rebate from a number linked to a caravan park near Skegness.
The resident, who has not been named, said the caller claimed to be from South Holland District Council and told him he was owed money because the authority had not taken account of his wife’s death six years ago. He was told the rebate had been backdated to that time.
Concerned about the unexpected approach, he checked the number displayed on his phone. It appeared to have come from Kingfisher Caravan Park, a site in Ingoldmells near Skegness, rather than from the district council.
He immediately contacted South Holland District Council, expecting to report a possible scam. Instead, the council confirmed that the call was genuine.
“I wanted to speak out as I was worried others might be owed a rebate, but not take the call seriously because it’s come from Kingfisher Caravan Park,” he said.
Why the call appeared to come from a caravan park
Kingfisher Caravan Park is owned by East Lindsey District Council. East Lindsey and South Holland are partners in the South and East Lincolnshire Council Partnership, which brought the unusual number display into the wider partnership’s telephone arrangements.
The pensioner said a council staff member told him the problem involved the partnership’s phone service. However, a spokesperson for the partnership gave a different explanation, saying the displayed number was caused by an issue affecting the recipient’s system.
“It was a legitimate call that came from our customer contact team, via East Lindsey District Council’s main service desk number (01507 601111), and there appears to have been an issue with the Caller ID incorrectly auto-generating on Mr Cole’s phone,” the spokesperson said.
The partnership said the matter had been reported to its telephone service hosts. They confirmed that the problem was not a known issue on the council’s side and was instead believed to have been caused by the recipient’s network or device.
What Spalding residents should take from the incident
The incident highlights how a genuine council call can appear suspicious when the number displayed does not match the organisation contacting a resident. In this case, the pensioner checked the caller’s claim directly with South Holland District Council before taking any further action.
The council partnership has not stated in the supplied information how many other residents may have received calls with an incorrect Caller ID. The pensioner said he wanted to raise awareness because other people who may be owed a rebate could dismiss a genuine call if it appeared to come from Kingfisher Caravan Park.
The report was published on September 23, 2026.