Mail and phone scams catch out 3m

Mail and phone scams catch out 3m

About 3 million Britons are being cheated of £3.5bn a year by fraudsters who solicit money by letter, email, text and telephone, the Office of Fair Trading says today.

Fewer than one in 20 victims report their experience, but trading watchdogs hope to help consumers fight back after a survey revealed the scale of the problem for the first time.

A nationwide campaign in February asking the public for examples of scam mailings they had received showed just how rife rip-offs have become. Misleading sweepstakes and prize draws, fake clairvoyants, bogus foreign lotteries and miracle health cures were among the most common cons being perpetrated among more than 15,000 mailings passed to 50 of the 200 local authority trading standards offices in England, Wales and Scotland.

Mike Haley, the OFT's director of consumer protection, said: "The huge range of mailings uncovered by the Scamnesty campaign illustrate there really is a scam for everyone."

The OFT said people targeted by scam offers should "not be rushed into sending off money straight away to someone you do not know. If you are unsure, speak to family or friends or seek advice." It added: "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is." The organisation urged people to report suspected cons to Consumer Direct, a government-funded advice service, on 08454 04 05 06 or access its website. New consumer protection regulations ban 31 practices.

Maximum fines of up to £5,000.....continued below

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and up to six months' imprisonment can be imposed by magistrates, while more serious offences heard in crown courts can be punished by unlimited fines and up to two years' imprisonment.

In July, the OFT won a cross-border case when a Dutch court granted an injunction stopping mail order company Best Sales sending misleading prize draw mailings to consumers. In January, the OFT gained an injunction against a Brighton-based trader behind misleading racing tipster mailings.

Marilyn Baldwin believes her mother, Jessica, gave scammers about £50,000 after being targeted through a "suckers list" circulated between cheats. She died last November aged 83, after becoming in her final years "more and more hooked as the amount of mail increased. Some days she would receive around 30 letters a day. It didn't take long before she started to send away all her pension except for around £15 a week she would keep to live off."

Her mother had also received threatening phone calls at her home in Derby.

Baldwin said the Royal Mail should do more to stop fraudsters, especially if staff noticed an unusually large amount of mail being delivered to particular addresses.

But a Royal Mail spokesman said that while it deplored the sending of "illegal and scam" material, it was under a legal obligation to deliver all addressed mail.

A spokesman added: "We would urge anyone with concerns to contact the Advertising Standards Authority and the OFT, who have the power to investigate."

To good to be true

Advance feeConsumer receives letter, fax or email asking for help in transferring money overseas. Recipient offered slice for themselves for transferring money, usually 25-30%.

Fake foreign lotteriesLetters, phone calls or emails tell of big win and ask recipients to send money to cover administration or taxes.