Direct mail giants join war on £10bn postal scammers

The UK’s leading direct mail companies have pledged to share intelligence on scam mailings and work together with law enforcement agencies to terminate any illegal content to combat rogue practices which as estimated to cost UK consumers £10bn a year.
The Strategic Mailing Partnership – whose members include GI Solutions and Communisis – has offered its full support to tackling the scourge of scam.
Scammers mostly target the most vulnerable members of society with offers and rewards requiring an upfront payment. These typically include syndicated foreign lotteries, fake legacies and prize draws which lead the recipient to believe they have already won a substantial cash prize.
Since launching the Industry Scam Mail Code of Practice in October 2016, Royal Mail claims it has stopped more than 2 million fraudulent items from reaching UK households.
To show its backing the fight, the SMP now has a board member on the new Industry forum, chaired by National Trading Standards, and, on behalf of its members, has unanimously agreed to adhere to the Industry Code of Practice.
SMP chair Judith Donovan said: “The SMP takes the threat of scam mail very seriously as it can have devastating effects on our customers, businesses, livelihoods, family and friends.
“Scam mail targets the vulnerable and can have terrible repercussions. It’s something we don’t want associated with mail and we are committed to help combat this issue.”
Over 5,000 Royal Mail delivery staff have received training by the National Trading Scams Team at delivery offices across the UK.
Royal Mail commercial programme manager for consumer and network access John Kitchen said: “Royal Mail is totally committed to doing all it can to tackle the issue of scam mail. We are working with our partners and law enforcement agencies to take further steps to stop such mail entering our network.
“Having the SMP on-board in our mission to tackle scam mail is fantastic and, by working together, we can ensure that advertising mail is not tainted by the small proportion of illegal mailings which seek to target the vulnerable in society.”