00:00So, I'm minding my own business, working on a piece for National World's Silent Crime
00:04Campaign, when the postal flap opened and a bunch of letters were strewn across my floor.
00:10Taking a look through what we received today was one letter addressed to me, at least I
00:14think it was addressed for me anyway, as the name and address were pretty close but somehow
00:19it ended up in my possession.
00:21Slightly anxious, I opened it up to read the following, Dear Benji, with one I, yada yada
00:25yada, personal information, distant relative, money, Spain, wait, am I Spanish?
00:35No it turns out scam mails don't merely exist in the digital world anymore, or still rather,
00:41I've been targeted by a postal scam and it is exactly how it sounds, think about those
00:45spam emails you'd get from a prince of a small country requesting money to open up a wealth
00:50of fortunes just for my assistance, only in a post-internet world.
00:57They can be addressed to you directly, and even use your name, or attempt to in my case.
01:02They contain fake claims or offers that are designed to con you out of money, and they
01:06come in the usual guises, lottery and prize draws, pyramid schemes, fake job offers, strangers
01:12in need of help, and in my case, an unclaimed inheritance.
01:16But what makes it more pertinent than an email scam though, is the legitimacy it seems to
01:20bear to have someone go to the efforts to contact you by post, it lends itself to merely
01:27being added to an email list just to tick all the boxes that, yep, we've scammed that
01:32email address.
01:33So what to do when something like this comes in the post?
01:36Well Age UK offer the following advice, verify.
01:40If you're unsure, check the details of the organisation, find the organisation's details
01:45using the phone book or via their official website, never use the contact details littered
01:50on the scam letter, reject if you receive a letter you think is a scam, ignore it, throw
01:56it away, never reply, as tempting as it may sound, and of course report, pay it forwards,
02:02make sure that this thing doesn't happen to other people out there.
02:06You can contact the Royal Mail if you think you've received scam mail and send it to them
02:10with a covering letter.
02:12If you want more information about scams or to report a scam, there is also action
02:15fraud.
02:17The Citizens Advice Bureau can be contacted by phone or online if you've received a postal
02:22scam.
02:23And for those ones that have a slight air of legality to them, well, you can contact
02:28the Solicitor's Regulation Authority, again, if you receive a letter from a solicitor and
02:34you're not sure if it's genuine, they can tell you if the solicitor's firm is registered
02:39and check a list of reported scams on their website.
02:43Remain vigilant, I hardly thought that these things happened, I was half expecting a chain
02:48letter to be honest with you, but do your due diligence, make sure you report it, and
02:54don't fall foul to this.
Comments