Councillor Jack Davies issued the alert after a resident visited the town council offices believing he had to hand over money to secure a prize and vehicle he had supposedly won through a Facebook competition.
Cllr Davies said: “This is an odd one but I’ve just been made aware of a scam attempting to use the name of the mayor and the town council to appear legitimate.
“A resident attended the town council office today believing he was required to pay £500 to release supposed ‘winnings’ and a vehicle following an online competition.
“The correspondence he provided is clearly fraudulent, but it is persuasive, detailed and persistent.”
The scam messages falsely state: “We have received a call from the mayor of the town, Colm McCarthy. He states that there is a handling fee of £500 that must be paid. Your winnings have been placed on immediate hold.”
Victims have been told: “You can make the payment via bank transfer directly to the mayor’s town account to release your winnings… Alternatively, you can pay in instalments using an Apple Card.”
In some cases, the fraudsters warn: “If you don’t act soon, the mayor may impose a large tax on your lottery winnings.”
Cllr Davies stressed the claims are entirely false and that neither the Mayor nor the council would ever request payment to release prize money.
The scam falsely names Mayor Colm McCarthy as authorising the fee, refers to non-existent bodies such as a “county cashier’s office” and a “mayor’s account”, and applies pressure through threats of seizure or additional tax.
Cllr Davies added: “I want to reassure residents that this is a scam. Please do not make any payments or share personal details.”
Residents who receive similar messages are urged to report them to Action Fraud and contact the council directly if in doubt.