Police warning over postal scam

[yesman]

From the Cambridge Evening News, but I guess it could be a national scam or even international......
So just a warning really.

RESIDENTS in the region are being warned of a postal scam which could cost victims money.
Cambridgeshire Police and The Trading Standards Office are offering the advice.
It comes as the build up to Christmas begins, when people are more likely to be expecting parcel deliveries.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news...51052d423e.lpf

[danielf]

This is a scam from a few years back. The number in question has been shut down, and it never cost as much as £15.

Where do these 'newspapers' get their information? Do they just print any old rubbish to fill the pages?

Edit:
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/pds.asp

So yes, it may happen again, but the fact remains that the reporting in that link is rather sloppy.

[yesman]

Sorry Dan, but it's the good ol' Cambridge News again.
It has got to the stage where I don't even believe the football results

[danielf]

Originally Posted by yesman

Sorry Dan, but it's the good ol' Cambridge News again.
It has got to the stage where I don't even believe the football results

No worries

The thing is: They could have written a proper article warning people that such a thing might well take place again. But instead, they seem to have plucked something off the web from a dew years ago which is now factually incorrect.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by danielf

No worries

The thing is: They could have written a proper article warning people that such a thing might well take place again. But instead, they seem to have plucked something off the web from a dew years ago which is now factually incorrect.

It's not just them though, lazy journalism seems endemic, the only thing that will turn it round is if people are sacked when they report nonsense like this as news The writer of the article might think it's ok but it's sloppy, unprofessional and makes some of Britain's best known institutions look ridicules

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

...The writer of the article might think it's ok but it's sloppy, unprofessional ...

I must be missing something, as I thought the Wiki article was a lie, and the reputable agencies did report it as true.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by TheNorm

I must be missing something, as I thought the Wiki article was a lie, and the reputable agencies did report it as true.

Yes and the writer tried to defend them, hurried and harried my ****, it's their job after all

Because Wikipedia told them so, and so when the - hurried, harried - journalists came to write their obits for him, they just took the information at face value.

It's easy to be too hard on the writers - loads of people rely on Wikipedia for information every day, and hardly anyone bothers to cross-reference it anywhere else

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Yes and the writer tried to defend them,...

OK, I'm with you now.

Yes, I agree, this is appalling. And journalists like to think that journalism is a profession. It always makes me laugh when I hear that.

[trisontana]

PhonePayPlus (the new name for ICSTIS) are so fed up with this email "warning" which is making the rounds again, that they have issued the following statement :-

A STATEMENT FROM PHONEPAYPLUS ABOUT THE CURRENT
‘POSTAL SCAM’ CHAIN EMAIL
PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged
postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading
Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus’ former name).
PhonepayPlus appreciates that recipients of the email may want to find out more information
about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement:
• The chain email refers to a service that was shut down by us in December 2005.
• We subsequently fined the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom
(based in Belize), £10,000.
• The service is NO LONGER running and has NOT been running since December 2005.
• The email refers to a £15 charge for simply being connected to a recorded message.
This is NOT TRUE – a £15 connection charge does NOT exist. The service in question
actually cost £1.50 per minute and lasted six minutes, making a total cost of £9 if callers
stayed on the line for the full six minutes.
• You do NOT need to contact us, or the Royal Mail, about this service as it was stopped
almost two 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.
• Please go to http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_...sumerGuide.pdf for useful
information about how to recognise phone-paid services and understand what they cost,
and some simple tips to help you enjoy using services with confidence.
• For more detailed information about our work, please visit www.phonepayplus.org.uk.
19 October 2007

It's not just the Cambridge Evening News that have fell for this without checking their facts. I have identified at least three other papers who are printing it. This time last year, when the same email appeared, organisations who should have known better, including some police forces, Trading Standards Departments and Neighbourhood Watch groups were posting it on their websites.