Since November 2016 Royal Mail has stopped more than 700,000 items of scam mail from being delivered to UK consumers. It has now launched a new initiative in which it will proactively contact households if it believes they are being targeted by high volumes of scam mail. The offending mail will be blocked and impounded so that it is not delivered. Impacted customers will be offered access to a helpline, mail contact or Freepost address if they have any concerns.
In a separate initiative, working in conjunction with an overseas postal operator, Royal Mail is intercepting letters sent by UK consumers to a known scam operation in Europe. The letters which contain cash sums are being returned to the senders.
The anti-scam initiative is the latest in Royal Mail’s rolling programme of moves designed to confound and stop scammers from reaching UK consumers. In November it introduced an industry-wide code of practice supported by other postal firms including Whistl and UK Mail to crack down on scam mail. This includes faster sharing of intelligence on potential scam mail, the introduction of anti-scam clauses into bulk mail contracts and engaging at a European level with other postal operators.
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