News Warning over letter scam
Glenys Smith with her copy of the letter she fears will con other local residents.
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A couple targeted by conmen in a £1.4 million mail scam is warning other Goole residents not to fall for the same trick.
Glenys and Bob Smith, who suspected instantly that the promises of instant riches in a prize draw were a fake, believe the tricksters may already have targeted other people in the area.
The Smiths discovered the scam last Saturday morning, March 8, when a letter addressed to them dropped through their letterbox in Humber Street, Old Goole.
Emblazoned across the front of the envelope was a message which stated that a 'legally-binding prize notification' had been issued to a Mr B. Smith.
Inside was a prize notification headed 'Legal Department', which stated that Mr Smith had won one of five cash prizes ranging from £400 to £35,000.
The total prize money amounted to £1.4 million.
Mrs Smith (60), said: "It's just a big scam and I fear that lots of people will think it's real.
"I just don't want other people becoming victims. It looks so real - they say you've got so much time to claim the money or it's void."
The letter to the Smiths was sent from a UK address - the return address was given as Greenford, with a UB18 post code - through an Austrian operator called Friedrich Mueller, who demands that the recipient must respond either by telephone or writing to a given address within 48 hours to claim his or her prize.
Failure to do so would result in forfeiture of the prize.
Calls to the 'Immediate Response Telephone Number' cost £1.50 per minute, with a maximum call length of 13 minutes (£18.50).
Respondents are urged to make a telephone call and are told that this is quicker and that they are less likely to miss the deadline to claim a prize.
The letter adds that Mr Smith 'will have to assume complete responsibility for the consequences of forfeiting a prize of up to £35,000 by failure to respond in time'.
It then advises Mr Smith to 'get in touch with us immediately'.
He is also told to send a stamped, adressed envelope to Friedrich Mueller at an address in Vienna and warned he may have to complete an 'affidavit of eligibility and liability'.
In the letter, winners are also reminded they will also be subject to 'Austrian Gift Tax' of up to 22 per cent, which will automatically be deducted from their winnings.
If they do ring the 'response line' they are greeted by an automated voice message, in the guise of an American woman, which says: "Congratulations on your fantastic prize; please accept our heartfelt congratulations. You finally did it!"
The highly-dubious mail 'prize draw' is well-known to both the UK's Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and the European Advertising Standards Agency (EASA).
On its website, the the ASA says it has received complaints from members of the public about these mail prize draws.
It says that two of the biggest culprits sending out 'problematic' prize-draw mailings over the last year were those from Friedrich Mueller and a company called TV Direct Distribution, both of which are based overseas.
It said that, despite efforts by the ASA, EASA and Royal Mail to stop these companies sending out misleading information, the complaints about their mailings have continued to pour in.
As a result, the ASA had asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to take action against the companies under the Control of Misleading Advertising Regulations.
It means that Friedrich Mueller now runs the risk of prosecution, which could result in a hefty fine.
On its website, the EASA said efforts had been made by the Austrian self-regulatory body, OWR, to contact Friedrich Mueller, but no response was received.
The OWR had now passed the matter on to the Austrian authorities for further investigation.
Published on 13th March 2008 in News.
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