A BIDEFORD man has issued a warning to the public following the delivery of a "suspicious" postcard sent to his home address.
Harold Holland, of Laurel Avenue, received a postcard delivered by his postman, on Thursday, March 19.
The 82-year-old said he was immediately suspicious after seeing the postcard carried a fully paid postage stamp from Nadi Airport in Fiji.
The postcard, addressed to his wife, Veronica, said: "We are holding a parcel in your name. See other side for immediate claim information."
"My son Mike spotted the card through the door and we were immediately suspicious," said Harold. "It was addressed to my wife and it said the parcel that needed to be collected contained jewellery."
On the other side of the postcard, the card had a tracking number, with the price of the parcel stated as £50.
Harold said alarm-bells started ringing when he noticed on the card that to claim the parcel, you must pay a fee of £10 over the phone – handing over personal credit card details.
"To claim this parcel and accept this offer, you must telephone the number below immediately and arrange for delivery," the card stated.
"The item is prepaid, but a processing delivery fee of £10 must be remitted. This fee can be paid only by telephone and only with a credit card (VISA or MasterCard)."
Harold said he wanted to warn other people – especially the elderly, who could fall for the postal scam.
"There are a lot of scams going around at the moment, where elderly people have been conned out of a lot of money," he said.
"I worry about an old woman living on her own, receiving this postcard, and immediately thinking that it is genuine and handing over their details."
His son Mike shared the postcard on Facebook to warn his friends, with 2,500 people sharing his original post.
"I just worry about the people who are not on Facebook or who do not get out much and who will fall for this scam," added Harold.
DI Praveen Naidoo has headed up North and West Devon police's Operation Jessica, a campaign to raise awareness of telephone and postal scams.
He said: "Any letter/postcard asking for money which you are not expecting should be treated as suspicious.
"I am concerned that others may not be so vigilant as your reader and if they ring the number on the card and pass over their credit card details it will be a lot more than just £10 that they lose.
"On the wider issue of fraud it's really important that in the run up to Pension Freedom Day people do not become tempted into investments which on face value seem too good to be true. Do your research and take your time. If it's too good to be true it probably is, and never give money or personal details to a cold caller or in response to an unsolicited letter."
Anyone who is concerned about a possible scam or is worried about a friend or relative can call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06.
Anyone who is a victim of fraud should contact Action Fraud, http://www.actionfraud.police.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or phone 0300 123 2040.