Warning Postal Scam

[steve_nfi]

Hi All
I had this sent to me by a friend this morning.
I just thought I'd share it with you, especially with Xmas right on top of us.

__________________________________________________ ____________
Postal Scam

Can you circulate this around especially as Xmas 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 £315 for the phone call.
If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 020 7239 6655.

For more information, see the Crime Stoppers website:
__________________________________________________ ________________

[mbird]

Not sure its anything to worry about any more.

Is this 0906 6611911 number a scam? | This is Money

[Dos_Box]

This scam was run several years back. I heard over the weekend it was active again, but I'm sure teh number was directed elsewhere (the origional was indeed run by a Belizian outfit). These myth-slaying sites say otherwise, but I suppose it is prudent to look up any suspect 'we missed you' cards before dielling, especially since Christmas is coming and we all get a lot of home deliveries.

PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) Premium Rate Scam Warning
snopes.com: Parcel Delivery Service Fraud

There is nothing listed on any news sites, so I think we can assume it is not actually happening.

[TwoZeroAlpha]

Crikey theres some inflation for you... in 2006 it was £15 you'd get scammed out of, now in 2010 it's up to £315.

I'm wary of any email that includes the phrase "has been confirmed by...." If this was a real scam Royal Mail would have been going to the media with it not sending an email to a few random people.

[36Degrees]

It's funny in some respects to see these old chain emails being resurrected every couple of years!

[tech_guy]

I'm still waiting for my $50m from a very nice Nigerian widow who needed my help to get her late husband's fortune out of the country....

[riffleman]

It's a hoax. You can't get charged more than £1.50 per minute for an 09 phone call.

[SteveBentley]

Crimestoppers, whose website is cited in the email, confirm it's a hoax

Crimestoppers parcel e-mail scam | Crimestoppers UK

[jamesreedersmith]

Maximum cost for an 09 number was and may still be £999.99/minute

[riffleman]

No, the most you can be charged for an 09 number from a BT landline is £1.50 per minute.

BT's own literature confirms:
"This is BT's Premium Rate Number where your customers pay a higher fee for your service - but no more than £1.50 (inc VAT) per minute from the BT network This is the number for you if you need to generate that extra bit of revenue."

Ref:
Valuecall 09xx | 08 & 09 numbers | Phone services

[localzuk]

No, the most you can be charged for an 09 number from a BT landline is £1.50 per minute.

BT's own literature confirms:
"This is BT's Premium Rate Number where your customers pay a higher fee for your service - but no more than £1.50 (inc VAT) per minute from the BT network This is the number for you if you need to generate that extra bit of revenue."

Ref:
Valuecall 09xx | 08 & 09 numbers | Phone services

BT aren't the only provider of premium rate numbers...

[RabbieBurns]

BT aren't the only provider of premium rate numbers...

True. But OFCOM sets it at that for the 0906 number as mentioned above

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...ment/sesv3.pdf

• 0900 and 0901 Special Services, time charged calls up to and including 60ppm and total call cost not greater than £5 or fixed fee up to £1 per call (all prices are for BTcustomers);
• 0904, 0905, 0906 Special Services, open ended time dependent charge or fixed and 0911 fee up to £1.50 for BT customers;
• 0907 Special Services pay for product that costs more than £1 in total for BTcustomers;

[localzuk]

True. But OFCOM sets it at that for the 0906 number as mentioned above

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...ment/sesv3.pdf

Again, it states 'for BT customers'. Not everyone is a BT customer!

[riffleman]

BT aren't the only provider of premium rate numbers...

That is correct. However all 090 numbers must be registered with the regulator (PhonePayPlus) who have stipulated the maximum cost as £1.50 per minute irrespective of who provides the service.

[RabbieBurns]

Again, it states 'for BT customers'. Not everyone is a BT customer!

They mean from a land line, as opposed to from a mobile phone.