Silent Crime: What to do if you get scam letters in the mail

National World - National Videos

Despite living in the digital age, it would appear that scams by post are still out there. Benjamin Jackson explains what he did in the situation he found himself in when he was the recipient of one such scam.

Transcript

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.

Category

Transcript

Recommended