Met hunt South African conmen after intercepting scam letter

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Met hunt South African conmen after intercepting scam letters

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Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into a South African-based fraud group after seizing 10,000 scam mail letters at a sorting office.

The inquiry, the first of its kind, could lead to the arrest of fraudsters in South Africa and their extradition to Britain to face trial.

Police intercepted the scam mail at a private postal sorting office in Southall in January. The letters were being "repackaged" before being sent on to potential victims in London and across the UK to make it appear that they had been sent from this country.

The crime group has ceased sending mail to Britain since the suspect letters were seized.

Detective Sergeant Mark Ham, of the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Unit, said: "It is a complex investigation because you cannot just go and knock on someone's door in the UK but if the evidence is there we will be liaising with authorities in South Africa and people will be prosecuted."

The scam mail racket rakes in an estimated £3.5 billion a year by conning people into investing in schemes such as fake lotteries, share deals or inheritance plans. There are believed to be thousands of UK victims each year.

People who reply to the fraud letters - often the elderly and dementia sufferers - are put on "sucker lists" which are sold on to other criminals around the world.

Mr Ham said he knew of one victim who was receiving 20 letters a day from fraudsters. Following the police action the number of scam letters had fallen to four a week.

He said: "It has always been looked at as a few people losing £20 here and there but it is in fact a huge fraud. What we seized was the tip of the iceberg but it appears to have at least made a dent in one operation."

Detective Superintendent Mark Ponting, head of prevention and disruption for the economic crime unit, said: "The individuals behind this type of crime are cynical and pernicious, making their living by targeting and exploiting some of the most vulnerable and needy people in our society.

"For many of these victims, the bombardment of scam mail results in fear, severe financial difficulties and a decline in physical and mental health."

Marilyn Baldwin of the Think Jessica campaign against scam mail described how her mother, Jessica, was targeted by conmen in her mid-seventies when she was suffering from declining mental health.

She said: "For five years I tried to convince my mum that she was being scammed, but criminals claiming to be clairvoyants, lottery officials and solicitors led her to believe the family were against her - she would not co-operate.

"I believe that the thousands of scam letters we removed from her home contributed to her death in 2007."

[kingofmcr]

i have been posting this rubbish for 3 years now .it easy to spot ..and should be intercepted before it gets posted to the intended victims .one bloke was getting..over a dozen everyday ..most of it originates from canada ..in what are called boiler rooms