Postal Scam

London50

With Christmas comming This has raised its head again and with the freebies, prizes and offers from this site I thought it would be wise to remind people {Sorry if in the wrong place, Hope someone can transfer to better place if needed}
Postal Scam
Can you circulate this around especially as Christmas is fast approaching -
it has been confirmed by Royal Mail. The Trading Standards Office are making
people aware of the following scam:
A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel
Delivery Service)suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and
that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO
NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize .
If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will
already have been billed £15 for the phone call.
If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail
Fraud on 02072396655

MARTINS_DOLL

Thanks for posting...:beer:

Just to add that most 090 numbers cost about £1.00 per minute... :eek:

littlewren

Thankyou London50, this was a good post. If you receive a card through the door, you believe you must have missed a parcel and automatically dial the number given, so this was a good heads-up.

happymum168

Many thanks for the warning.
I do a lot of internet shopping and tend to forget about what i order .......old age

*Jelly_Tots*

I think this particular story gets e-mailed round every xmas but is no longer going on: see: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/pds-phone-scam.html
It's interesting the way these stories go round and round for years, although it's always best to be on guard as there's always a chance it could happen again.

custardy

c'mon,this is old news
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1220867&highlight=royal+mail
posted yesterday here too,no doubt we will have it every day till xmas & beyond
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1223981&highlight=royal+mail

trisontana

To repeat it yet again:-

There is no such organization as the "Trading Standards Office"

You cannot be charged £15 just by dialling the number.

That particular 090 number was closed down in 2005

and to quote Phonepayplus:-

A real problem with emailed warning such as this is that they often continue to circulate for months or even years after the described threat has disappeared. They also tend to mutate as they travel, further diffusing the truth and relevance of the information they contain.

Before forwarding scam warnings, recipients should always check that the warning is genuine and current. False or outdated warning emails such as this one do nothing more than add to the clutter in our already junk-ridden inboxes and spread misinformation.


Usually any message which starts with the magic words "please circulate this around" is a chain-email with no credence at all.

trisontana

This "warning" has now reached the press. That venerable organ the Wigan Evening News is reporting it as fact and repeats the email word-for-word, even calling the phone regulator ICSTIS. It does add this last paragraph though :-

A Wigan Council spokesman said: "Anyone receiving these cards could easily relate it to genuinely ordered goods or a gift from somebody – and that's the plan.

"But it's nothing more than a cunningly worded invitation to telephone a premium rated service.
"It's a dreadful scam at any time, but in the current economic climate and with Christmas on the way, people should be very cautious when receiving cards like this even if they are expecting parcels."

What a load of tosh!

Freddie_Snowbits

Is that game Elf Bowling, the one set to explode the Internet in 1999 still doing the rounds?

gm71

I've been getting similar notifications by email asking to call an 09 number - yet another scam....