16 million scam mail sent using company part-owned by RM

[TrueBlueTerrier]

16 million pieces of 'scam mail' sent using company part-owned by Royal Mail

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -Mail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Police have identified mass mailings of letters intended to defraud people with fake lotteries and prize draws sent from overseas.

An investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme has shown that Spring Global Mail, a Dutch company partly-owned by the Royal Mail, was enabling large amounts of scam mail to reach Britain from overseas.

The company, which handles bulk mailings for legitimate international businesses, is also used by fraudsters. It has recently been forced to terminate six contracts after uncovering illicit overseas operations.

Scam mail has been estimated to cost victims £2.4billion a year and operates by hoaxing people into believing they need to send money to secure foreign lotteries or to receive prize holidays.

The Netherlands-based company, which is partly owned the Dutch postal system NL, has also been criticised for offering a “local look” service, which allows foreign fraudsters to use the Royal Mail postmark on letters and a UK return-to-sender address. There is therefore no sign that the mail has been sent from abroad.

Jessica Looke, a pensioner from Derby, was conned out of £50,000 after responding to a scam mail. Her daughter, Marilyn Baldwin, has set up a pressure group called Think Jessica to help elderly people fight the scams.

Mrs Baldwin said that the Royal Mail postmark was a factor in convincing her mother that the scams were real.

“My mother used to say, it isn't a scam, it's genuine," said Mrs Baldwin. "The Royal Mail are delivering, in effect, coach loads of criminals to the houses of elderly and vulnerable people. They are the link between the victim and the scammer.”

Mike Haley, director of the National Fraud Authority, which is working with Royal Mail on the issue, said the postal service was underestimating the impact of scam mail.

"They need to ratchet up their response, recognising the human misery that comes about by the delivery of this fraudulent mail," said Mr Haley. “I think that any serious business will want to protect it’s customers, so for just making a quick buck off some fraudsters they should balance that against the fact that they have a big customer base they need to protect.”

Further concerns have been raised because once an individual responds to a single piece of scam mail, their names can end up a “suckers list” of vulnerable people that is then sold on to other criminals.

Police have identified 6 million pieces of scam mail, but believe there may be a further 10 million of the letters in the postal system.

A spokesman for Spring Global Mail said: “We take the problem of scam mail very seriously and believe that targeting the senders of the mail and raising awareness with the general public are the best ways to resolve any issues.”

A spokesman for the Royal Mail said the group was working with the Met Police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency to identify and stop the perpetrators of scam mail fraud.

Panorama: Why Hate Junk Mail? BBC One, Monday, 4 July at 8.30pm

[dekcuferew]

What makes it worse this dutch company was i suspect purchased with our pension fund money during the 10 year pension holiday.

[chewi]

I remember watching a program a few years ago about the same thing, possibly the same company. I remember that was also part owned by RM. As I remember RM ended by making some comment along the lines of "New procedures to be put in place blah blah blah"

It seems management are like leopards.

[axeman]

makes you wonder if tnt own the other bit

[Thorby Bislam]

It's on Panorama tonight.

[fishtank]

makes you wonder if tnt own the other bit

They do axeman.

We are a joint venture company, formed in 2001 by three of the world’s most dynamic and respected postal organisations: TNT of the Netherlands and Royal Mail of the United Kingdom.

http://www.springglobalmail.co.uk/en/About_Us/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Pat Ostman]

makes you wonder if tnt own the other bit

They do axeman.

We are a joint venture company, formed in 2001 by three of the world’s most dynamic and respected postal organisations: TNT of the Netherlands and Royal Mail of the United Kingdom.

http://www.springglobalmail.co.uk/en/About_Us/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So who's the third?

If it's obvious, it's late