Premium phone line regulator has exposed a hoax chain email campaign which warns consumers about a parcel delivery scam.
In the email, householders are warned that the scam involves cards being posted through doors from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel. Consumers are then urged to contact the company on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number).
The email says: “If you call the number and start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £315 for the phone call. If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 020 7239 6655”.
But PhonepayPlus (formerly Icstis) says the service was shut down in December 2005, and the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom (based in Belize), was subsequently fined £10,000.
A statement on the PhonepayPlus website (www.phonepayplus.org.uk) reads: “You do not need to contact PhonepayPlus, or the Royal Mail, about this service as it was stopped almost four years ago. If you receive a copy of the email warning you about the alleged scam, please do not forward it to others. Instead, please forward this statement from PhonepayPlus.”
