Sometimes all it takes for a scam to be stopped is one person to step in. The victim may not be aware of the scam but if there are other people who find out during the process, there is a good chance that the main danger can be removed before people start to lose out. This has been the case in Cardiff recently where a mail scam was thwarted by a postman who had just found out about the potential scams that were taking place.
The potential victim was David Popkin from the Welsh capital and he was starting to become inundated with letters requesting cash relating to a bogus lottery win. The reason that the pensioner was beginning to receive a high volume of letters was down to the fact that he had previously responded to a letter indicating that he had won a considerable sum of money from a prize draw.
You will find that as soon as these scammers find that someone is slightly receptive to their actions and activities, they will focus on them. There has even been talk of a suckers list circulating around scamming professionals with the list referring to people who have been known to respond positively to scams.
A clued up postman was able to stop the scamming process
Thankfully, a postman called Chris Wilcox, based at the Cardiff Mail Centre, had noticed the warning signs and he stepped in to stop the process. After this, the mail centre held a training day, in association with Trading Standards, to ensure that all employees were aware of the dangers of these mailouts.
Mr Popkin said that the initial letters were so convincing and that he believed that they were real. He spoke to local media, saying; “I have sent a few bob. I have sent about £100. That’s low in proportion to what some people have fallen for – but it’s still £100.” As the victim says, compared to the sums of money that many people have lost due to scams, this isn’t a massive amount of money but the principle of the matter remains no matter how much money has been lost. Thankfully he has received assistance preventing him from losing a great deal of money but other people may not be so lucky.
Raising awareness of these crimes can make a massive difference
It is important to provide as many people as possible with as much knowledge and information as possible but unfortunately, there will always be people who fall foul to this sort of crime. This is why improving the chances of people stopping these scams before they reach the recipient has to be worth considering and this is why focusing on Royal Mail workers is a good idea.
If this style of scam can be closed down, scammers will eventually move to other forms of tricking people but if you can close off an avenue, you are heading in the right direction with respect to minimising the impact of scams.
The postman had received training earlier on this year and he became aware that the victim was receiving a larger volume of letters and he put him in touch with Trading Standards. The postman also spoke to local media, saying; “We learnt how scam mail works, where it originates from and how vulnerable people are to scam mail. I’m cautious as to who’s having more mail, who’s having less mail and especially with vulnerable people, elderly people, you tend to know if they are having 20 or 30 extra letters a week.”
The fact that there has been a higher level of focus on these scams will hopefully minimise the impact of these crimes but it will also mean that more criminals could face prosecution. If you have been undertaking scams of this nature, it is important that you take steps to ensure that you have the best level of guidance and support with respect to these crimes.
Even if you are yet to face charges of this nature, calling on a professional solicitor with experience in providing support with respect to fraud will help you to make the most robust defence that you can. If you are facing charges of this nature, be proactive and call for the leading solicitor in this field.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.
