Information Bulletin
06 January 2006
Beware of phoney parcel delivery cards
Trading Standards Officers are warning Shetland householders to be wary of official looking parcel delivery cards, which are designed to trick you into a £9 premium rate phone call.
The cards, which bear the logo PDS Parcel Delivery Services, look just like the sort of card any reputable company might issue in order to ask you to claim delivery of a parcel.
In this case, however, the claim is that they are "awaiting your instruction to arrange delivery" of a digital camera - if you make a call to a telephone number to obtain a "Security Confirmation Code". In very small print at the bottom of the card is the information that the number is a premium rate line charged at £1.50 a minute (for up to 5 minutes and 50 seconds).
These cards claim to come from Wrexham. However, Studio Telecom (the company behind this scam) is actually based in Belize - and was fined £20,000 by ICSTIS (the UK regulator for premium rate telephone services) last June after complaints about a similar "promotion".
David Marsh, Service Manager - Trading Standards with Shetland Islands Council, advises people to be sure they check the details before phoning any premium rate number. "This is simply another scam to lure people into phoning a high-cost number in the expectation of something for nothing."
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Notes
ICSTIS (the premium rate services regulator) has details about its work, including information about current investigations and previous adjudications, at www.icstis.org.uk. Their Press Office can be contacted by the media at pressoffice@icstis.org.uk or on either 020 7940 7408 or 020 7940 7464.
The Council's Trading Standards web pages at www.shetland.gov.uk/tradingstandards have information about scams, together with general consumer advice and information, and links to other useful websites.
For advice on any consumer issue, either as an individual or on behalf of a business, people in Shetland can call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, Citizens Advice on 01595 694696, or Trading Standards on 01595 744800.
The Trading Standards Service is based at the Council's Grantfield offices, where they can also be contacted by email to trading.standards@shetland.gov.uk or fax 01595 695887.
David Marsh, Shetland Islands Council's Trading Standards Service Manager, is available for interview if required - please contact trading.standards@shetland.gov.uk or call 01595 744800.