Help get rid of scam mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.goolecourier.co.uk/news/Help ... 4852806.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A CAMPAIGN against unwanted junk and scam mail is to start next month.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council's waste team is joining up with Trading Standards to highlight the problem during the two-week awareness scheme Scamnesty, which starts on February 2 and will run alongside the national initiative by the Office of Fair Trading.

Angela Currie, the council's Trading Standards consumer education officer, said: "Unwanted mail is a major issue in this area, as it is across the UK.

"It creates huge waste as well as causing misery to about three million people a year in the UK who are duped into losing money by mass marketed scams."

It is believed that only five per cent of victims report their experience.

Common scams include prize draws, foreign lotteries, miracle health and cure schemes, pyramid selling and bogus holiday clubs.

Councillor Symon Fraser, portfolio holder for the environment, waste, recycling, strategic highways and planning, said: "As well as the cost in human misery, there is also the millions of tonnes of paper wasted on unwanted junk mail that ends up in landfill.

"For both reasons, we are enthusiastic about playing a major role in the Scamnesty initiative to deal with this nuisance."

Residents can do two things: register with the Mail Preference Service on http://www.mpsonline.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to block unwanted mail arriving in the post. There is a link on http://www.target45plus.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; on Facts/Waste Facts.

Secondly, residents can hand in their scam mail at any council offices, making sure to mark them for Trading Standards.