Watch oot, there's a scam aboot......

[Heilandee]

Royal Mail 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 £15 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail

Fraud on 02072396655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at

http://www.icstis.org.uk/

dont get caught out  :008:

[Scotty]

Its a hoax - or it is now. The number actually worked in the past but was shut down by authorities.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/pds-phone-scam.html

http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/hoaxes/hoa...y+Service+(PDS)

[Heilandee]

Cheers scotty , better safe than sorry,just delete the thread if you like,didnae want folk gettin burnt  :022:

[Scotty]

I'll leave it up - we can point people to this thread if anyone else asks about it.

Most of these hoaxes are very believable - but they are as bad as spam as they very easily achieve what they are meant to do which is to clog up email systems when tens of thousands of (conscientious) people email it to thier contact list who in turn email it to their contact list who in turn .... etc etc.

I normally go and check the hoax websites before forwarding mail of this type, or stick a search into google to see if it comes up as dodgy - apart from the two links I used above (courtesy of google search), I also use snopes.com which dispels many urban myths and also symantec's website which deals not only with viruses but also virus hoaxes.

[Dmacca]

This scam has actually been aired on local radio consumer program down here in Bristol in the last week, so beware !

Macca

[Scotty]

This scam has actually been aired on local radio consumer program down here in Bristol in the last week, so beware !

and isnt it possible that they got wind of it through this email that is circulating and just didnt bother checking facts ???

ICSTIS shut down the number in the original scam, and although it is possible (and maybe quite likely) for someone to change the number to point to a current premium rate number, and adjust the scam a little, the £15 fee is a myth. The Bristol media might want to check with their counterparts at BBC Wales who broke the story in 2005 !!!

On one of the links above (first one I think) it says "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." Its worth reading the full page : http://www.hoax-slayer.com/pds-phone-scam.html

[Dmacca]

This scam has actually been aired on local radio consumer program down here in Bristol in the last week, so beware !

and isnt it possible that they got wind of it through this email that is circulating and just didnt bother checking facts ???

ICSTIS shut down the number in the original scam, and although it is possible (and maybe quite likely) for someone to change the number to point to a current premium rate number, and adjust the scam a little, the £15 fee is a myth. The Bristol media might want to check with their counterparts at BBC Wales who broke the story in 2005 !!!

On one of the links above (first one I think) it says "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." Its worth reading the full page : http://www.hoax-slayer.com/pds-phone-scam.html

Fair enough Scotty but have to say the above mentioned program is well respected down here, you never know who to believe anymore, gotta say though cant see how a £15.00 connection charge could ever be levied, maybe £1.50 or upwards per min more likely.

Gotta be so careful in todays climate. Havent looked at your link yet but about to do so.

[edit (scotty): edited to correct the year i quoted in my original post - not sure where I got 1995 from it was meant to be 2005]

[CaleyD]

If memory serves me corectly I think the per minute/connection charges were capped (at £1.50 I believe) a few years back to prevent these types of scams which used to be common place.  It's the same with these txt services for mobile phones, thats why you will never see them more than £1.50 for a single txt alert/message (anything more expensive will be charged to your mobile phone by sending you multiple messages)