According to Royal Mail it has stopped one million scam mailing items from reaching homes in the UK since the postal operator launched its latest drive to stop the fraudsters in November 2016.

Royal Mail has released a statement that says it is storing the impounded scam mail in a secure warehouse at an undisclosed location where it will be destroyed by trained disposal experts.

The scam mail in question includes items such as invitations to participate in lotteries with fake prizes and letters from “clairvoyants”.

“We are working hard to try and stop this terrible material from reaching UK households,” said Stephen Agar, Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail. “Every item of scam mail, however, is one item too many. We continue to fight against the fraudsters who cause so much misery.”

In November, Royal Mail announced the coordination of an industry-wide response to tackle fraudulent mail at its source including the launch of an industry-wide code of practice, developed by Royal Mail and supported by firms including Whistl and UK Mail. And then in March, Royal Mail announced changes to the terms and conditions governing bulk mail contracts, enabling it to follow up on solid intelligence by refusing to carry mail that is suspected to be fraudulent.

Direct mail is one of the most effective forms of advertising which is why scam attempts can be so successful unless thwarted by the delivery operator. Unlike emails ‘from rich bankers’ in Nigeria, people are more likely to pay attention to a letter that makes empty promises. This move by Royal Mail could tackle a major issue.  
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