CHOLTON

If you get a card dropped through your door from a company called pds claiming they tried to deliver a parcel DO NOT call the number as its a premium rate scam and a very expensive one , more info should be available from crimestoppers and the royal mail .

Cheers Chris

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Or do 30 seconds research and realise it's a Hoax

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

Postal scam chain email – PhonepayPlus’ statement
17/11/2010

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 email may want to find out more information about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement:

* The chain email 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.

There is also no current warnings about this particular scam on either the Trading Standards website or the Royal Mail website.

In fact, as noted above, the phone numbers used in the scam were switched off by ICSTIS in December 2005 and Studio Telecom, the company responsible, was investigated and subsequently fined.

When the scam was operating around December 2005, many UK householders reported receiving a card, ostensibly from a package delivery business named "Parcel Delivery Services" or "PDS". The card advised recipients to phone a number provided in order to arrange delivery of a package, claimed to be a digital camera.

However the contact number was a premium rate line that was charged at £1.50 per minute. A disclaimer in very small print on the bottom of the card informed recipients that the contact number would be charged at a premium rate. Although the cards claimed to originate from Wrexham in the UK, the company responsible for this scam is actually based in Belize, Central America.

At the time the scam was operating, those who called the number were asked to answer a number of market research questions before being given a "security confirmation code" to claim their camera. Callers were therefore kept on the line for some time and charged at a rate of £1.50 per minute. Not surprisingly, none of those who lodged complaints about the scam ever received their digital camera.

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 was unfounded.

While this particular scam has now been terminated, premium rate phone fraud is not uncommon. People should watch for similar scams that attempt to trick them into making expensive, premium rate phone calls. Service providers and premium rate phone regulators such as PhonepayPlus will generally provide information to consumers about premium rate scams.

A real problem with emailed warning such as this is that they often continue to circulate for months or even years after the described threat has disappeared. They also tend to mutate as they travel, further diffusing the truth and relevance of the information they contain.

Before forwarding scam warnings, recipients should always check that the warning is genuine and current. False or outdated warning emails such as this one do nothing more than add to the clutter in our already junk-ridden inboxes and spread misinformation.

EH52WRX

iTrader: (16)

What ever next, dirty rotten scumbags.

CHOLTON

My information came straight from Derbyshire Police , just putting it out there !

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Would this be a friend in the force that didn't check himself? Unfortunately people do post without checking, and this one is doing the rounds again.

I stopped one at work on Monday as well, so you aren't the only person being caught out.

JP4

iTrader: (12)

I'd be more worried if you get a blue coloured leaflet through your door from "HELPMATES LIMITED" asking you to donate lots of items including cosmetics and perfumes.....so that they can go and sell this onwards to the third world!!

Now when did those starving have a need to put on some lippy and some sexy scent?

Type in google and you'll find some interesting read!!

I understand that the company (a commercial company) is owned by a couple of Eastern European named individuals.

CHOLTON

This has been confirmed by royal mail and trading standards this wk and have asked the police to circulate it , not a friend no .

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Given that the link I showed you above is a week old and specifically mentions that there is no alert from Trading Standards, or the Royal Mail, could you show the link you've got saying otherwise?

CHOLTON

Don't have a link , this came from police intelligence and simply passing on the message mate .

DJ_Jon

iTrader: (7)

It's the same bollocks every year, well meaning people send this to my inbox every November/December without checking that their info.

SkydiveMacca

http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/medi...l-scam-5478547

I had the same email sent round at work the other day (As i did last year, and the year before...).

they've actually updated the CS link now. It used to talk about the scam and how it was stopped in 2005... Now they just say it's a hoax.

I really wish people would check something before blindly forwarding it on.

CHOLTON

Jeez try and do a good turn . If I didn't think it was worth posting I wouldn't bother but if it stops one person on here getting fleeced then its worth it .

rooferman

iTrader: (6)

This was on 22b.com last week.....lol......Hoax.....ha ha...

DJ_Jon

iTrader: (7)

You my friend are deluded. Check your info with your mate at special branch before doing us a good turn. Oh and you are 2 weeks late as some other idiot at my workplace spammed my work inbox, then some of my well meaning FaceFcuk friends decided to do me a good turn & PM me the same faux info. But if you say it's come straight from your BFF in MI6 then it must be true...

CHOLTON

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

I give nothing to anyone so avoid getting scammed

TX.

N_Scooby

iTrader: (2)

I always check to see if the info on the plastic back says if they are a charity or a Ltd company. The Ltd companies have been collecting my grass cuttings for most of last summer