Mass market fraud or scam mail

The sophistication of mass market mail and online fraud and scam mail can vary enormously but as a general rule, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Many people in the UK, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, are lured by the prospect of a surprise win, and give large amounts of money or personal data to claim their fake prize. 

Examples of scam mail

The most common mass-market fraud, the fake prize scam, is where you get a message by post, email or text saying you’ve won a prize or competition, usually one you’ve never heard of.

The message asks for an upfront payment to claim the prize, which either never arrives or is very different to what was promised.

‘Psychic’ and ‘clairvoyant’ scams set up victims for a fake prize scam. In this situation, a ‘psychic’ sends the victim a list of ‘lucky’ lottery numbers. Soon afterwards, a letter arrives telling the victim they’ve won a lottery with those exact numbers. Of course, this is all part of the scam.

You may receive unsolicited mail advertising ‘high quality’ or ‘exclusive’ goods, which in reality are poor value for money.

Another mass marketing scam is to offer a share of a cash prize that you can only get by ordering goods. The goods are usually very poor quality and the cash prize is never mentioned again.

Also be wary when sending money, or receiving money from, someone you don’t know and trust. This may be a ploy by a scammer to get you to pass money through your bank account that’s stolen from another victim’s account.

If you do this, technically you’re money laundering and being a ‘money mule’ for the scammers. If convicted of money laundering you could be sent to prison. Having a criminal conviction can make it harder to get financial products or get a job.

It can only take a single response to a scammer to be inundated with more scam mail. Your name and address will be included on a ‘suckers list’ and you’ll get lots of scam mail every day.

Remember, you:

For more information and help or to report on this and many other types of fraud, visit Report Fraud, the UK’s national cyber crime and fraud reporting service.