Fraud And Scam Warning

Fraud Warning

The Metropolitan Police have advised us and other Freight and Courier Companies that fraudsters are using genuine company names and other details in order to legitimise their scams. These relate to Lottery Winnings, Car Purchases, shipment of goods and other scams.

Typically, the return email addresses will show an Internet Service Provider, for example Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc and not the name of the company that they are purporting to be.

Additionally, there are many fraudulent websites that may be either copies of a genuine site or completely fictitious. These will usually not show contact details, or use '070' non geographic mobile numbers that ring with overseas ring tones.

Money Transfer agencies such as Western Union and MoneyGram are their preferred method of transferring money. The fraudster usually asks Lottery winners to pay taxes or other fees up front, or will send a counterfeit cheque with an overpayment for cars or other items, known as 'Criminal Cashback'.

A recent scam is to leave an answerphone message advising that a package needs to be delivered and giving an 070 number to call back. These calls can cost up to £15 per minute.

Do not reply to these emails or phone calls and never send money.

Further advice can be obtained from the Metropolitan Police 'Fraud Alert' web site www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/