Scams - what to watch out for and deal with

[Jon Clarke]

There's been a few scams going round lately, so I thought I'd start a thread for anyone to add to. If you hear of one, do share here to warn others.

Postal Scam

Can you circulate this around especially as Christmas 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

[Jon Clarke]

Phishing Scams Online in Plain English - Also added in the Video section of this site for easy reference

[Jackie]

According to Snopes, it's true but was shut down in 2005. See http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/pds.asp.