Trading Standards warning over parcel scam

LANCASHIRE County Council Trading Standards service is warning residents to watch out for new parcel collection scams following the closure of the latest scheme by the telephone watchdog ICSTIS.

The scam involves consumers being sent a delivery card telling them that a parcel is awaiting collection and they should contact a telephone number on the card to arrange delivery. The cards are made to look like the postal-collection cards legitimately used by the Post Office but the telephone number is actually a premium rate line and no worthwhile goods are ever awaiting collection.

The most recent case involved a card promising the recipient that a digital camera was waiting for delivery and to telephone 0906 661 1909 in order to arrange collection. However, the small print on the card stated that the call was to a premium rate telephone number, charged at £1.50 per minute, and that the call could last up to 5 minutes 50 seconds, costing up to £9. The card was sent out by a business calling itself Studio Telecom.

Following a flood of complaints, ICSTIS, the premium rate telephone services regulator, used its emergency procedures to shut down the telephone line and freeze payments to the company.

Jim Potts, Lancashire's Chief Trading Standards Officer, said: "These type of cards look as though they come from the Post Office or Royal Mail but they have actually been sent by a private firm. Anyone receiving a card could easily think they have ordered goods or been sent a gift by someone else and telephone the number without fully reading the card and realising it is a premium rate number.

"It is often not clear what, if anything, will actually be sent. I would advise anyone receiving this type of card in the future to think very carefully before responding to it."

Anyone who has concerns about the cards can call Trading Standards Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06. The number for Textphone/Minicom users is 08451 28 13 84.