Don’t be ripped off by mailing
scams
All of us have received junk mail through
our letterboxes at some time. Most of us find it a nuisance but
from time to time more sinister scam mail can arrive - here are
some examples.
Prize letters
You receive a letter stating you have won
or are guaranteed a prize. You are asked to send a small fee or
make an expensive phone call to claim the prize. The letter often
uses deceptive wording to imply, without ever specifically stating,
that you have won the prize.
None of these letters ever pay out any
cash prizes. If you do send money, your name may be sold on to
other fraudsters and you will find yourself bombarded with letters
of a similar nature. These are invariably sent from outside the UK
and Europe, with the attendant difficulties in stopping them.
Miracle Cures
You receive unsolicited mail or e-mails
claiming to be able to cure an incurable disease or ailment.
Trading Standards advise that if a medical claim sounds too good to
be true it probably is. Always consult a health care professional
before parting with any money for treatments.
Advice from Trading
Standards
Never
• Send money or give bank/credit card
details or any other personal details.
• Ring a premium rate - 09 - phone
number. They make money from the cost of the call.
• Reply to junk mail. You can find your
name added to more mailing lists even if you have not sent any
money.
Much of this mail is sent from abroad and
it is difficult, if not impossible, for the authorities in the UK
to control it. Often the address used is an accommodation address.
Look out for these addresses which include PO Box or ‘suite’
numbers. If you respond any money you send is likely to be
forwarded abroad. Mailing lists are sold from one rogue firm to
another.
Most people who send money get nothing.
If they do receive something it is usually cheap and shoddy and
certainly not worth the money they paid. If you send money to a
firm that is based abroad, you are unlikely to get your money back
if things go wrong.
Government departments and Trading
Standards do their best to publicise the risks of responding to
this type of mail through leaflets, talks and press, TV and radio
features.
Put junk mail straight in the recycle
bin
Chain Letters
You receive a letter at your home address
telling you of a miraculous way that you can earn vast sums of
money. Usually your instructions are to send £10 to a name and
address, then send copies of the letter to names and addresses you
are asked to gather from the phone book. Chain letters like these
have been circulating the country for years without real evidence
of anyone being able to make the huge profits that they claim will
result. These letters are usually very difficult to trace back to
an original sender having passed through dozens of hands.
Foreign Money
Laundering
These come in the form of e-mails or
letters and invite you to give your bank details in order for the
writer to ‘transfer’ money into this country. In return you are
offered a percentage of the millions which will be passing through
your account. A high percentage of these mailings claim to be from
residents of African Countries.
You run the risk of losing all the money
in your bank account if you decide to take up this offer.
These scams are well-known as
international fraud and are investigated by the police.
A website has been set up where details
of these scams can be logged – you can find it at
www.nafn.gov.uk
Overseas and other lottery
scams
Don’t respond to requests for you to send
money to claim ‘winnings’ from overseas lottery programmes.
The scam starts when people respond to
mail, e-mails or phone calls (often sent from Canada, Australia or
Spain) telling them they are being entered in a national lottery or
some other prize draw. They soon receive a phone call
congratulating them on winning the ‘big prize’. However, before
they can claim the prize, victims are told they must send money to
pay for taxes and processing fees.
Often these calls are repeated and people
send more money. UK consumers have lost thousands of pounds through
such schemes. The prize doesn’t exist and they never receive any
winnings in return for their cash.
These scams usually ask for personal
details - full name, date of birth, next of kin, bank account - and
once you have given these they will ask for a substantial amount to
“claim” your prize, to “register” and to pay “taxes”. DON’T
REPLY!
If you have lost money and become a
victim of an overseas scam, the oft would like to hear from you.
Contact them by calling
0845 722 4499
Or you can report the matter to Consumer
Direct.
Never send money to “claim” money
Predictions for the
Future
A “psychic” writes to you, giving vague
predictions for the future and suggesting that someone is going to
cause you harm or that bad luck is about to befall you. The
letter then asks you to send a sum of money to the “psychic” in
order to protect you from harm. The Office of Fair Trading is
currently collating complaints with a view to taking action to stop
these potentially menacing communications being sent out.
Someone with your surname has
died abroad leaving a large estate
You receive an unsolicited e-mail from
abroad. This claims that someone with the same surname as you has
died and that as they have no other living relatives you are
entitled to their large estate simply because you have the same
surname. If you do get in touch to try and claim this money you
will be strung along for cash and bank account details in much the
same way as if you had responded to the African money laundering
scam mentioned above.
Money making schemes
You are sent a letter stating that the
sender has discovered a marvellous way of making lots of money, a
scheme they will tell you about for a small fee. You send the money
and you get a letter telling you to send out adverts of the type
you initially received or something equally worthless.
Undelivered packages
You are left a note in the post stating
that a courier has failed to deliver a package from overseas or
containing perishable goods. You read the small print and find that
you have to ring an 09 premium rate number to retrieve the package.
This call may last for 7 to 13 minutes, at a charge rate of £1.50
per minute, your parcel is costing you £10 to £20, but is likely to
be of little value, e.g. some vouchers or a cheap gift.
To complain about traders using premium
rate numbers you can contact:
ICSTIS on 0800 500 212
www.icstis.org.uk
Shopping and Consumer
Surveys
You may receive these in the post. They
often ask for very personal information - date of birth, next of
kin - and invite you to receive information about goods and
services.
In the wrong hands, such information can
be used later on to deceive you into thinking you are being
contacted by a “trusted” source.
Remember
Throw it away if the letter contains:
• A request for money.
• Addresses that are PO Boxes, suite
numbers or based abroad.
• A request for your bank account
details. Report it to your bank first.
• Instructions to call a telephone number
beginning 09.
If you receive any letters like
those we have described, simply tear them up and throw them in the
recycle bin.
You can help reduce the amount of junk
mail which lands on your doormat by registering with the mailing
preference service (MPS).
You can do this by calling them on
0845 7034599
or filling in the on-line registration
form at
www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
