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| - An image warning about an alleged Christmas postal ‘scam’ has gone viral on Facebook, with one post having almost 20,000 shares.
But this is an old warning from 2005 about a premium-rate number that no longer operates.
The posts feature an image that says: “Christmas is fast approaching, Royal Mail & The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following scam:
“A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a Premium rate number).
“If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £315 for the phone call [...] Can you please make all your family, friends and neighbours aware of the above.”
This refers to a genuine premium-rate number that was operating in 2005, according to fact checkers at Snopes. However, the UK regulator for services charged via phone bills, the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), formerly known as PhonepayPlus, has repeatedly issued statements confirming that it was shut down in December that same year. The PSA said the company operating the phone line was based in Belize and was subsequently fined £10,000.
Despite the alleged scam being shut down almost two decades ago, the warnings continue to re-emerge on social media on a regular basis, usually in the run-up to Christmas, as has been highlighted by organisations including the Guardian, Action Fraud and Surrey Police.
Full Fact also saw an almost identical post originally from 2015 but that recirculated widely in November 2022.
In fact, the PSA released a statement as recently as last November emphasising that the number no longer exists and there’s no need for people to share the out-of-date warning.
The PSA recommends people search numbers they are unsure about with its ‘Service checker’, which provides any information the PSA has about the company running the service.
The regulator also says: “Remember that numbers starting 09, 087 and 118 are charged at premium rates. Always check how much any number will cost before dialling or texting either on Ofcom’s call costs guide or gov.uk’s cost guide.”
The PSA limits the maximum amount that can be charged on any premium-rate phone line. Under Ofcom rules, a one-minute call with an 09 number would not cost anything like £315.
This post is an example of a “zombie claim”—a false claim that crops up repeatedly over the course of weeks, months or years, even after being repeatedly debunked.
Full Fact has previously written about warnings supposedly from the City of London Police and Martin Lewis about scams that are not real. It’s important to check information with official sources before sharing it online.
Image courtesy of Nenad Stojkovic
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