Help prevent a chain e-mail being circulated

At this time of year, members of the public are re-circulating an e-mail with content similar to below:

“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.”

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I have today contacted the Royal Mail Fraud Department, who have said that they have received a high volume of telephone calls about this ‘old scam’ being in circulation again!

THIS IS A ‘HOAX’. ROYAL MAIL HAVE ASKED THAT WE ASSIST THEM IN MAKING PEOPLE AWARE OF THIS.

IF YOU RECEIVE A SIMILAR E-MAIL PLEASE DELETE IT –  DO NOT TO PASS IT ON TO OTHERS.

For information, I sent out community message ref: B944 last November as follows:

“POSTAL SCAM CHAIN E-MAIL – PHONEPAYPLUS’ STATEMENT 22/10/2009”

PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus’ former name).

PhonepayPlus appreciates that recipients of the e-mail may want to find out more information about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement:

The chain e-mail refers to a service (operating on 0906 6611911) that was shut down by PhonepayPlus (then ICSTIS) in December 2005.

PhonepayPlus subsequently fined the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom (based in Belize), £10,000.

The service is NO LONGER running and has NOT been running since December 2005.

You do NOT need to contact PhonepayPlus, or the Royal Mail, about this service as it was stopped almost four years ago.

If you receive a copy of the email warning you about the alleged scam, please do NOT forward it to others. Instead, please forward this statement from PhonepayPlus.

If you receive a delivery card through your letterbox which you do not believe is genuine and which asks you to dial a premium rate number, you can contact PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 (Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm) for further guidance.

Please go to http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/FAQ.aspx for useful information about how to recognise phone-paid services and understand what they cost, and some simple tips to help you enjoy using services with confidence.

For more detailed information about PhonepayPlus’ work, please visit www.phonepayplus.org.uk