Sent by professional fraudsters, the letters are designed to con recipients into investing in bogus schemes such as fake lotteries, share frauds and inheritance scams. They depend on persuading victims to transfer money to the criminals based on false promises of valuable goods, services or benefits that are never delivered.
After replying to the first ‘tempter’ letter, victims’ names are then put on a ‘suckers’ list which is subsequently sold to other criminals all over the world.
Sucker lists are comprised of some of the most vulnerable people in society, in particular the elderly and those suffering from illnesses such as dementia.
Chronic victims of scam mail end up being hounded by numerous criminal organisations. Staggeringly, an estimated GB pound 3.5 billion is ‘scammed’ from UK citizens each year.
Around GB pound 2.4 billion of that figure is believed to be as a result of mail scams.
Partnership with Royal Mail and Spring Global Mail
The latest Operation Sterling initiative – which is being run in partnership with Royal Mail and international mail service provider Spring Global Mail – is part of a long-running police investigation into the organised criminal networks behind these scams.
The investigation began earlier this year when detectives, with the help of Trading Standards and other police forces, contacted eleven scam mail victims from across the UK who had been repeatedly targeted. These people were receiving more than 100 letters each week, the majority of which originated from outside the UK.
The victims were asked to collate their post over a four-week period. This post was taken to New Scotland Yard where it was analysed. It was then sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, where a senior lawyer deemed it to be illegal under the Fraud Act 2006.
Postal marks printed on the envelopes – known as a postage paid impression (PPI) – were then used to trace the post back to source. This was done with the help of Royal Mail and Spring Global Mail.
In one case, a total of 27 scams were linked to one PPI.
Freight seized and impounded
In a bid to crack down on the criminals behind these scams, Royal Mail and Spring Global Mail agreed to alert police when the next shipment of post bearing this PPI arrived in the UK.
Earlier today, detectives visited a UK sorting office where they seized the freight and impounded it.
The letters will become exhibits in a criminal investigation, providing detectives with an opportunity to identify chronic victims of crime (and the perpetrators of that crime) and to take the appropriate action.
At the same time, five return addresses (or ‘virtual offices’) in London identified as part of the scam process were shut down and searched for criminal evidence. These addresses are privately rented mail boxes.
As well as stopping hundreds of items of scam mail from reaching vulnerable targets, detectives hope today’s operation will send warning messages to both the victims and perpetrators of this crime.
Working in partnership with Royal Mail, Spring Global Mail, other UK mail providers and the virtual office industry, the police will continue to look at measures to disrupt and frustrate scam mail entering and leaving the UK, and to prevent the exploitation of legitimate services by organised criminal networks.
“Cynical and pernicious” individuals
Detective superintendent Mark Ponting, head of prevention and disruption for the Metropolitan Police Service’s Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: “The individuals behind this type of crime are cynical and pernicious, making their living by targeting and exploiting some of the most vulnerable and needy people in our society.”
He added: “For many of these victims, the bombardment of scam mail results in fear, severe financial difficulties and, ultimately, a decline in both their physical and mental health. In at least five cases in the UK, it has ended in suicide.”
Ponting very much hopes that today’s action, and the action that will be taken in the future, will raise awareness of this crime among all sectors of society, and prevent more people from falling victim to it.
“We also hope to send a warning to the perpetrators that their actions will not go unhindered,” asserted Ponting. “We aim to clamp down on this crime and make it as hard as possible for the people responsible for it to operate.”
Ponting also openly thanked Royal Mail and Spring Global Mail for working with the Met to take “an important step in the continuing fight against mass marketing fraud”.
Raising awareness: key part of the solution
Iain McLure, the CEO of Spring Global Mail, commented: “Targeting the senders of the mail is the correct action. The police have got this right. Raising awareness is also a key part of the solution to the problem.”
Gary Simpson, international director at Royal Mail, stated: “We don’t want any of our postmen or women handling or delivering mail that causes harm or is criminal in intent. Royal Mail is working hard with the police to clamp down on this type of distressing activity.”
Marilyn Baldwin of the victim support group Think Jessica said: “My mother Jessica was in her late seventies and suffering from (undiagnosed) age-related declining mental health when she was hunted down by scam mail criminals.”
For five years, Baldwin tried to convince her mother that she was being scammed, but criminals claiming to be clairvoyants, lottery officials and solicitors led her to believe the family were against her and she would not co-operate.
“The only help I could find was lip service. I believe that the 30,000 scam letters we removed from her home contributed to her death in 2007.”
The Think Jessica Campaign was started during that time. “We have been alerted to thousands of elderly and vulnerable silent victims who are being tricked, ‘befriended’ and threatened by criminals worldwide,” added Baldwin.
Some receive up to 100 scam letters a day. Many have sold their homes and emptied their bank accounts to keep up with the criminals’ demands.
“I cannot praise Operation Sterling enough for the support they have given Think Jessica, and their commitment and determination to help stop this evil trade. I’m thrilled that Royal Mail, Spring Global Mail and the Met are working together. I think we’ve turned a corner and, along with our future awareness campaigns, we’re now on the right road to protecting our most vulnerable and deterring those who prey on them.”
For more information on mass marketing fraud visit the Fraud Alert and Think Jessica websites (dedicated links are provided on the right hand panel of this page)
Advice on reporting suspected acts of fraud can be found on the Metropolitan Police Service website (again, we’ve provided a link for you)
Reports of suspected fraud may be made online to Action Fraud or by telephoning 0300 123 2040
Alternatively, report the fraud to your local police station if it’s deemed inappropriate to make a report on line or by telephone
