27 November 2006
A telephone scam which entices people to phone a 090 telephone number in order to arrange a collection for a non-existent parcel has been squashed by the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Television Information Services (ICSTIS), but it is warning consumers to be on the look out for more.
Parcel Delivery Service (PDS) dropped phoney cards through resident's doors, telling them that they needed to call a number which began 090 in order to arrange a time to pick up a parcel.
These 090 numbers cost unaware consumers £1.50 a minute from BT landlines.
ICSTIS was made aware of the scam after residents in the Berkshire area that was hit by the fraudsters phoned to complain. ICSTIS blocked the telephone number to prevent the company making any more money out of unsuspecting consumers.
In the run up to Christmas with thousands presents being posted, ICSTIS is working with trading standards officers to warn the public not to trust these companies.
Mike Hembry, a trading standards officer based in Slough, told the Slough Express: "We are advising anyone to be careful if they receive a postcard or even an email asking to call a premium rate number, usually beginning with the digits 090.
"These expensive services are also accessed by fax machines, via your internet and even an interactive TV, so people have to be really careful," he added.
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