Beware Of This Scam.....

bassman

i may not have posted this in the correct place..........

The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following postal
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 020 7239 6655 or
ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at https://www.icstis.org.uk
<http://www.icstis.org.uk/&gt; or your local trading standards office.

This is a genuine scam and is under investigation by ICSTIS.

bbb_uk

bassman wrote:

If
you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will
already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

Thanks, I think I saw this scam a while ago though but it could have started up again.

The cost to call this premium rate number is £1.49 per minute from a BT landline (other landlines and mobiles usually charge more). I cannot see where £15 comes into it unless you are on the phone for more than 10minutes.

Heinz

Even ictis knows it's a scam (and cannot possibly cost those with an IQ larger than their shoe size £15).

http://www.icstis.org.uk/pdfs_news/email.pdf

To put your mind at rest, the reference to £15 is an urban myth. It is not possible for a £15 charge to be made on connection. We also have a number of measures in place in our Code of Practice to ensure that consumers are protected from unexpectedly high charges. Calls and texts cost a maximum of £1.50 per minute. The particular service referred to in the chain e-mail used a recorded message which lasted a maximum of 6 minutes - making the total cost £9. Under the Code, all service providers must state clearly in promotional material the likely costs for calls to each service (either per minute or total charge inclusive of VAT).

bassman

bbb_uk wrote:

Thanks, I think I saw this scam a while ago though but it could have started up again.

The cost to call this premium rate number is £1.49 per minute from a BT landline (other landlines and mobiles usually charge more). I cannot see where £15 comes into it unless you are on the phone for more than 10minutes.

Yes...I thought it more important to post the warning quickly rather than check out all the facts, I also see that it has been posted before and has been dealt with by the authorities.....but if it makes at least one person more aware of these scams...it has done its job....

headcovers

This scam did happen but has since been stopped. See this link

The phone number used in the scam has now been switched off by ICSTIS, the UK's premium rate services regulator and Studio Telecom, the company responsible, is under investigation. Studio Telecom was previously fined for a similar premium rate phone scheme.

.........................Although the scam outlined in the message was true, the claim that an immediate £15 fee was charged as well as the per minute cost is unfounded. ICSTIS notes that, "the reference to £15 is an urban myth. It is not possible for a £15 charge to be made on connection."

bassman

headcovers wrote:

This scam did happen but has since been stopped. See this link

The phone number used in the scam has now been switched off by ICSTIS, the UK's premium rate services regulator and Studio Telecom, the company responsible, is under investigation. Studio Telecom was previously fined for a similar premium rate phone scheme.

.........................Although the scam outlined in the message was true, the claim that an immediate £15 fee was charged as well as the per minute cost is unfounded. ICSTIS notes that, "the reference to £15 is an urban myth. It is not possible for a £15 charge to be made on connection."

Cheers........Thats basically what I said above....but you've said it with the "facts".........and better explained.

bbb_uk

bassman wrote:

Yes...I thought it more important to post the warning quickly rather than check out all the facts, I also see that it has been posted before and has been dealt with by the authorities.....but if it makes at least one person more aware of these scams...it has done its job....

I agree. I already knew that the highest premium rate number you can get is £1.50ppm (or per text) hence why I outlined that the £15 isn't correct although for those not knowing this they could have believed this may have been true.

redux

The postcard vewrsion of it may have had action taken against it, but people are also receiving junk phone messages pretending to be a certain courier firm and asking people to call back on high rate numbers

keith234

seems a plausible trap