The art of the con…

[Robin GrahamParticipant @robingraham42208]

is sadly lacking in these times I fear. The latest with me was a text message from 'Royal Mail' telling me that I had to pay £2.99 in excess postage charges. Well that could be possible – like many people in these times I get much more stuff delivered than I used to. Hmm. Full marks so far.

What blew it was the sinister warning that if I didn't click on the link and cough up 'further action would be taken'. What 'further action'? That sounds like a threat. From Royal Mail? My interface with them is Jez the postie who would knock on the door and explain.

I'm making a joke of the artlessness of these con-tricks, but presumably people fall for them, and that's not funny.

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 26/02/2021 01:08:18

[Robin GrahamParticipant @robingraham42208]

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Possibly some homeless boy in an internet booth in Lagos just trying to get some lunch money. Saddest part is that with the internet the world's richest 10 per cent (that's us) are readily accessible to the world's starving masses but carry on as if they inhabit a different world. Not funny at all really.

But some of his more sophisticated compadres do seem to do remarkably well out of it. Much more than lunch money. Which is hard to believe that people still fall for it, to the tune of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The romance scams seem the most cynical of all and hit the biggest payouts. Incredible.

 

Edited By Hopper on 26/02/2021 01:30:47

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

What happens in real cases is that postie leaves a card telling you to pick it up from the local sorting office where you will be charged any fee.

More to the point when did you give the PO your mobile number?

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

I had the email from the Post Office telling me I needed to make contact re undeliverable parcel. The trouble was the email address they used to me was my old business email which does not get used these days as a day to day address. The email seems to come from Belgium as a lot of spam does.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

If I thought it was genuine I would print the e-mail, take it the local sorting-office, with ID (as they do request) and ask for the parcel there.

However, Royal Mail always leaves a card if they cannot deliver, but I think do charge a small fee for re-delivery or re-direction. I certainly trust it far more than the courier firms, which are designed primarily to deliver to business not domestic addresses, and can be the sloppy ones.

So I'd be very suspicious of an e-mail supposedly from Royal Mail – especially as I have not given it my telephone numbers or e-post address!

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

The email seems to come from Belgium as a lot of spam does.

Possibly some homeless boy in an internet booth in Brussels just trying to get some lunch money.

Mick

[Mike E.Participant @mikee-85511]

Posted by mick H on 26/02/2021 14:45:36:

The email seems to come from Belgium as a lot of spam does.

Possibly some homeless boy in an internet booth in Brussels just trying to get some lunch money.

Mick

Should be spending his money on food instead of an internet booth attempting to rob someone.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

What really annoys me is the lack of clear English when I get a phone call scam as happened yesterday on my mobile, they may think they are speaking clearly but usually their accent is so heavy I give up and cut them off.

Tony

[Oven ManParticipant @ovenman]

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 26/02/2021 15:48:59:

What really annoys me is the lack of clear English when I get a phone call scam as happened yesterday on my mobile, they may think they are speaking clearly but usually their accent is so heavy I give up and cut them off.

Tony

I had the completely opposite experience recently when a "detective" from the "serious fraud office" rang me about someone using my credit card. The upper class English accent was really convincing and it took a couple of minutes to realise it was a scam.

Peter

[Tom SheppardParticipant @tomsheppard60052]

The upper classes do not join the police. They employ them in order to protect the haves from the have nots. Years ago, it was considered a good and charitable thing to give our old computers to developing nations. The recipients, not burdened by the pressures of life in the more developed world, studiously embraced the machines and became very proficient in their use. This made them adept at working cyber cons and redistributed many millions of poundes from the gullible to the dishonest.

[Author]

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