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/binaries/consultations/supply_numbers/statement/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/binaries/consultations/supply_numbers/statement/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.

[MK-2]

god you got that too?

 

we had it forwarded by our deputy head to all staff, the exact same email.

[riffleman]

We had one of ours do the same last year, to which I then had to send a message around asking people not forward this crap and ask me first.

[witch]

We had one of ours do the same last year, to which I then had to send a message around asking people not forward this crap and ask me first.

Me too - but they don't do they? Even friends, when SHOWN how to check to see if these emails are genuine or not, STILL clog up the system emailing warnings to everyone they know

[MK-2]

when SHOWN how to check to see if these emails are genuine or not

 

snopes.com?

[witch]

snopes.com?

 

Oh yeah

[riffleman]

BBC Look North had a report warning of this "scam" as advised by Northumbria Police in their 0655 bulletin. Strangely it wasn't featured in the next bulletin after I emailed to tell them its a hoax. Now, I'm not claiming credit for them not reporting it again, but I wonder if they heeded my advice.....

[jamesb]

So far I've had this warning five times from various different people. The last four have contained a link purporting to be about the scam, but in fact detailing the virus e-mail about the scam.

 

Is a prereq to running an e-mail client switching off brain first?

[Arthur]

Common sense is all you need to protect yourself.

[localzuk]

Common sense is all you need to protect yourself.

 

Hahaha, the country is doomed then!