The Consumer Council has revealed that over a fifth of Derry City and Strabane consumers have received an item of mail, which they considered to be a scam and of those consumers 69% have ignored it or thrown it away.
The Consumer Council is working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Royal Mail to encourage all consumers to report incidents of scam mail to either Consumerline or Royal Mail, in order to help prevent others from falling victim to a scam and ultimately being left out of pocket.
Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Services at The Consumer Council, said: “Our research shows a significant number of consumers have received scam mail and have ignored it. Scam mail is sent for the sole purpose to take money from unsuspecting members of the public.
“It is important to always remain scam aware. Scammers may write to you out of the blue to persuade you to send them money or ask for personal and/or banking details. Be particularly wary of letters relating to lotteries, competitions, clairvoyants and offers of romance.
“The most important thing to do is to report it. If you have been caught out by a scam or you think a friend or family member has been affected, contact Consumerline on 0300 123 6262, or Royal Mail Scam helpline on 03456 113 413.”
The Consumer Council encourages consumers to report all incidents of scam mail.
For more information on scams, download a copy of The Consumer Council’s ‘Know the signs, stop the crime’ scams leaflet at www.consumercouncil.org.uk or call freephone 0800 121 6022 for a free copy.
You can also view our new interactive postal scam mail map, produced in collaboration with Ordnance Survey NI, which shows the findings from our scam mail research for each NI Council area - www.consumercouncil.org.uk/postal-services/scam-mail
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