Postal Scam

[Iain p]

Please read:

http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/med...news/crimestoppers-parcel-e-mail-scam-5478547

Admin/Mods please move if needed

 

[mr_cellophane]

It is an e-mail scam not a postal scam.

Anyone who calls a phone number they get on an unsolicited e-mail deserves a £315 bill for being stupid.

Can't quite see how it works though.  A spam e-mail telling you not to be scammed. 

 

[vernon]

Why don't people spend time checking the credentials of the alleged fraud before passing on the warning?

This is an old chestnut reported in 2005.

Further details are found here in Snopes my first port of call before accepting the veracity of any warning. Still waiting to receive a genuine 'live' warning about expensive phone calls, email scams, viruses, trojans etc.

 

[thomas]

Why don't people spend time checking the credentials of the alleged fraud before passing on the warning?

This is an old chestnut reported in 2005.

Further details are found here in Snopes my first port of call before accepting the veracity of any warning. Still waiting to receive a genuine 'live' warning about expensive phone calls, email scams, viruses, trojans etc.

It looks to be in the November 2010 section, which is a little newer than 2005. It's coming up to Christmas so probably reasonably likely to catch people out.

 

[vernon]

It looks to be in the November 2010 section, which is a little newer than 2005. It's coming up to Christmas so probably reasonably likely to catch people out.

No.....

The number is dead - it was reported in 2005 and the phone number disconnected on 29th December 2005.

Did you take the time to read the Snopes description of the problem?

There is no risk from this particular scam. It's dead and buried.

 

[thomas]

No.....

The number is dead - it was reported in 2005 and the phone number disconnected on 29th December 2005.

Did you take the time to read the Snopes description of the problem?

There is no risk from this particular scam. It's dead and buried.

yes....................................

A number of individuals have received an e-mail claiming to have been confirmed by Royal Mail and Trading Standards Institute and featuring a link to the Crimestoppers website [19 November 2010].

Just because some other scammed stop in 2005 doesn't mean it can't be replicated and done again...and trick people.

With it being Christmas time people are quite likely to have made online orders so a scam email about an order might not seem as stupid as it does for the rest of us.

 

[vernon]

Snopes web site was updated on 18th November.

I would give greater weight to the Snopes information - they actually take the time to investigate the story unlike the folk (who ought to know better) who blindly pass it on unchallenged.

 

[slugonabike]

I've been getting this e-mail at intervals for years. A quick glance at the hoaxbuster-type websites always says the same thing - a real scam that was shut down years ago. Well meaning people pass on the e-mail without checking and thus perpetuate the hoax. As a rule, anything that tells you to pass it on to all your contacts should be treated with a large amount of suspicion!

 

[Shaun]

As a rule, anything that tells you to pass it on to all your contacts should be treated with a large amount of suspicion!

I'd agree with that ... it's the key to most of the hoaxes anyway, the urge to forward it on - and as you say, well-meaning people who want to protect their friends and family from scammers think they are doing the right thing.

The Snopes site is useful too, as quite a few of these have been doing the rounds for years, so it's helpful to check before you pass it on:

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/fraud.asp

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Fnaar]

This is an old chestnut reported in 2005.

Further details are found here in Snopes my first port of call before accepting the veracity of any warning. Still waiting to receive a genuine 'live' warning about expensive phone calls, email scams, viruses, trojans etc.

Aha, so you say... but anti-Snopes says different

 

[thomas]

Aha, so you say... but anti-Snopes says different

Well, that link was a [never going to] let [you] down....never going give you up....

 

[asterix]

No.....

The number is dead - it was reported in 2005 and the phone number disconnected on 29th December 2005.

Did you take the time to read the Snopes description of the problem?

There is no risk from this particular scam. It's dead and buried.

It's just resting..

 

[Iain p]

Why don't people spend time checking the credentials of the alleged fraud before passing on the warning?

This is an old chestnut reported in 2005.

Further details are found here in Snopes my first port of call before accepting the veracity of any warning. Still waiting to receive a genuine 'live' warning about expensive phone calls, email scams, viruses, trojans etc.

The reason i didn't check it is because it came from a good source. The source is a company called DAVID BROWN and they are a big engineering firm in huddersfield. If they think it is worthy enough to notify people then so do i.
If you know better, then good for you. It may as you have said, turn out to be out of date, but it will at the very least keep peeps on there toes.

 

[Cubist]

The reason i didn't check it is because it came from a good source. The source is a company called DAVID BROWN and they are a big engineering firm in huddersfield. If they think it is worthy enough to notify people then so do i.
If you know better, then good for you. It may as you have said, turn out to be out of date, but it will at the very least keep peeps on there toes.

Another good source in Huddersfield is the Examiner. they reported on this last week, and again in October 2008...........http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'DELETE+BELIZE+SCAM+EMAILS'+1,000s+get+wrong+message.-a0242497737

 

[vernon]

The reason i didn't check it is because it came from a good source. The source is a company called DAVID BROWN and they are a big engineering firm in huddersfield. If they think it is worthy enough to notify people then so do i.
If you know better, then good for you. It may as you have said, turn out to be out of date, but it will at the very least keep peeps on there toes.

It's really worthwhile checking all scam warnings as they invariably turn out to be old/repeated or just plain false.

Your source was not a company called David Brown. Your source was a well intentioned employee of David Brown.

I still insist that it's always worth checking scam warnings either by going to Snopes.com or by copying and pasting a section of the warning into Google which turns up lots of references.

It saves well intentioned folk from being advised of their errors by cynical smart arses like me