Posties Bribed to Steal Bank Cards and PIN Letters

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/09/postie ... n-letters/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The BBC has gone deep undercover into the world of red polo shirts, with an investigation finding that gangs of fraudsters are trying to bribe postmen and sorting staff up to £1,000 a time to nick credit and debit cards and their follow-up PIN letters while they're in transit to their new owners.

The investigators say they spotted online adverts that attempted to recruit wayward Royal Mail staff, with one journalist deciding to respond to the advert to see what happened. And yes, a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN, heading off to home days apart. If the rogue postman could slip both of them into his pants unnoticed and forward them on to the fraudster, the £1k bounty is then paid. Hopefully in cash and not a cheque in the post.

UK Finance, a group that represents the banks and payment service operators in the UK, says it logged 11,377 case of cards being stolen in transit in 2016, so it's clearly something that happens — whether or not it's posties or sorting staff doing the palming of the Royal Mail won't say. [BBC]

[jack~jack]

What a surprise, discredit postal workers just before a strike vote.

[borgpicard]

Dont believe a word the bias bullshit company says.

[Straight4ward]

This report is concentrating its fire on the wrong target.

"a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN"

Surely the issue here is that someone working for the banks or the card issuers is informing the thieves when the cards are posted. That is the real story, not that some posties are stupid enough or sufficiently criminally minded to risk everything for a thousand quid.

May we please see a bit of real investigative journalism that gets to the source of the theft within the card issuers.

[Tman]

The old Conspiracy Theorists on show again.
The emphasis is on the fraudsters and their methods, not "dodgy posties".
Why wouldn't /shouldn't the BBC run an investigation into financial fraud? If some postie risks his job for as little as a £1000 he fully deserves all he gets...

[baldrick]

Surely the issue here is that someone working for the banks or the card issuers is informing the thieves when the cards are posted.

The program does show the fraudster explaining how it works. The program is more about the fraudsters than posties.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... s-04092017" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Pompey Boy]

The old Conspiracy Theorists on show again.
The emphasis is on the fraudsters and their methods, not "dodgy posties".
Why wouldn't /shouldn't the BBC run an investigation into financial fraud? If some postie risks his job for as little as a £1000 he fully deserves all he gets...

Don't think that the BBC has enough knowledge of the delivery/collection process to do a proper investgation.

The credit cards could go missing at several points:

1 At the credit card manufacturer ie letter stolen there so never leaves the premises. Bit like supermarket staff nicking stuff then blaming it on shoplifters.
2 The HGV driver collecting the cards, RM or agency.
3 RM staff unloading the HGV.
4 Processing staff/management.
5 Specials staff/management.
6 Any delivery staff involved with mail prep, and finally................
7 The postman

[Lounge Lizard]

The old Conspiracy Theorists on show again.
The emphasis is on the fraudsters and their methods, not "dodgy posties".
Why wouldn't /shouldn't the BBC run an investigation into financial fraud? If some postie risks his job for as little as a £1000 he fully deserves all he gets...

Don't think that the BBC has enough knowledge of the delivery/collection process to do a proper investgation.

The credit cards could go missing at several points:

1 At the credit card manufacturer ie letter stolen there so never leaves the premises. Bit like supermarket staff nicking stuff then blaming it on shoplifters.
2 The HGV driver collecting the cards, RM or agency.
3 RM staff unloading the HGV.
4 Processing staff/management.
5 Specials staff/management.
6 Any delivery staff involved with mail prep, and finally................
7 The postman

But surely, with all such items automatically sorted to the delivery round, any dishonest delivery postman could only intercept them from their own round but the fraudster wouldn't know which items being sent were going to which round. Or am I missing something ?

[swindonandy]

This report is concentrating its fire on the wrong target.

"a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN"

Surely the issue here is that someone working for the banks or the card issuers is informing the thieves when the cards are posted. That is the real story, not that some posties are stupid enough or sufficiently criminally minded to risk everything for a thousand quid.

May we please see a bit of real investigative journalism that gets to the source of the theft within the card issuers.

But surely, with all such items automatically sorted to the delivery round, any dishonest delivery postman could only intercept them from their own round but the fraudster wouldn't know which items being sent were going to which round. Or am I missing something ?

You both seem to have missed how this works.

The fraudster opens a new account or does a security reset (when you have cards stolen etc) on the walk of someone taking the £1000. They therefore know where the letter will be delivered and who it is addressed to. Mug taking the 1k knows it'll arrive at some point in the next week, looks out for it.

Yes, only from their own walk. Yet another reason why anyone who even considers this is an idiot.

[Lounge Lizard]

This report is concentrating its fire on the wrong target.

"a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN"

Surely the issue here is that someone working for the banks or the card issuers is informing the thieves when the cards are posted. That is the real story, not that some posties are stupid enough or sufficiently criminally minded to risk everything for a thousand quid.

May we please see a bit of real investigative journalism that gets to the source of the theft within the card issuers.

But surely, with all such items automatically sorted to the delivery round, any dishonest delivery postman could only intercept them from their own round but the fraudster wouldn't know which items being sent were going to which round. Or am I missing something ?

You both seem to have missed how this works.

The fraudster opens a new account or does a security reset (when you have cards stolen etc) on the walk of someone taking the £1000. They therefore know where the letter will be delivered and who it is addressed to. Mug taking the 1k knows it'll arrive at some point in the next week, looks out for it.

Yes, only from their own walk. Yet another reason why anyone who even considers this is an idiot.

Thanks. I understand now.
"Mug" is the correct word. And is a fraudster about to deprive a resident of their bank balance really going to pay the postman the £1000 he is promised ?

[cantonkid1955]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/09/postie ... n-letters/

The BBC has gone deep undercover into the world of red polo shirts, with an investigation finding that gangs of fraudsters are trying to bribe postmen and sorting staff up to £1,000 a time to nick credit and debit cards and their follow-up PIN letters while they're in transit to their new owners.

The investigators say they spotted online adverts that attempted to recruit wayward Royal Mail staff, with one journalist deciding to respond to the advert to see what happened. And yes, a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN, heading off to home days apart. If the rogue postman could slip both of them into his pants unnoticed and forward them on to the fraudster, the £1k bounty is then paid. Hopefully in cash and not a cheque in the post.

UK Finance, a group that represents the banks and payment service operators in the UK, says it logged 11,377 case of cards being stolen in transit in 2016, so it's clearly something that happens — whether or not it's posties or sorting staff doing the palming of the Royal Mail won't say. [BBC]

..there is nothing worse than a thief..especially a trusted thief..this scam has been going on for years,,funny that its only now that the unbiased BBC wants to show it..

[Lounge Lizard]

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/09/postie ... n-letters/

The BBC has gone deep undercover into the world of red polo shirts, with an investigation finding that gangs of fraudsters are trying to bribe postmen and sorting staff up to £1,000 a time to nick credit and debit cards and their follow-up PIN letters while they're in transit to their new owners.

The investigators say they spotted online adverts that attempted to recruit wayward Royal Mail staff, with one journalist deciding to respond to the advert to see what happened. And yes, a bloke met with him and told him to expect to see a pair of letters, one for the card and one for the PIN, heading off to home days apart. If the rogue postman could slip both of them into his pants unnoticed and forward them on to the fraudster, the £1k bounty is then paid. Hopefully in cash and not a cheque in the post.

UK Finance, a group that represents the banks and payment service operators in the UK, says it logged 11,377 case of cards being stolen in transit in 2016, so it's clearly something that happens — whether or not it's posties or sorting staff doing the palming of the Royal Mail won't say. [BBC]

..there is nothing worse than a thief..especially a trusted thief..this scam has been going on for years,,funny that its only now that the unbiased BBC wants to show it..

Yes, "trusted" will largely be why a postman might expect a custodial sentence whereas a someone else doing a similar theft might not.