A giant sculpture made from thousands of “scam” letters will be unveiled on London’s Southbank on Monday 13 June. It’s part of an effort to highlight the UK-wide blight of mass marketing fraud.
The artwork, made from a haul of intercepted mail, was created by primary school children as part of a week-long Mass Marketing Fraud Awareness campaign. The campaign is by the anti-fraud campaign "Think Jessica", the Police, SOCA, Trading Standards and the National Fraud Authority.
Sent by professional fraudsters, scam letters are designed to con recipients into investing in bogus schemes such as fake lotteries, share frauds and inheritance scams. They depend on persuading victims to hand over money based on promises of valuable goods, services, or benefits that are never delivered.
After replying to a ‘tempter’ letter, victims’ names can be put on a ‘suckers list’ which is then sold to other fraudsters. Chronic victims include some of the most vulnerable people in society, some of whom end up being hounded with terrible consequences.
In January 2010 grandmother Lieselotte Gerrard, 84, from Bedfordshire committed suicide after losing almost all of her life savings in a lottery scam.
An estimated £3.5 billion is ‘scammed’ from UK citizens each year. Around £2.4 billion of this is believed to be as a result of mail scams.
From 13 to 17 June the sculpture will tour around the UK being showcased at prominent locations in London, Manchester and Bristol. It will be accompanied by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service and SOCA as well as officers from local forces. The team will talk to members of the public about the dangers of mass marketing fraud and what they can do to stop themselves or their relatives becoming victims of scammers.
A second static sculpture, made by students from a college in Brighton, will also be on display at Brighton Marina on Friday 17 June. It has also been constructed from 30,000 scam letters seized during the course of an operation by SOCA.
If you are a victim of mass marketing fraud contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or go online www.actionfraud.org.uk.
Further advice can be found at www.met.police.uk/fruadalert/index.htm or www.thinkjessica.com.
Detective Superintendent Mark Ponting, head of prevention and disruption for the Metropolitan Police Service’s Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: "The individuals behind this type of crime are cynical and pernicious, making their living by targeting and exploiting some of the most vulnerable and needy people in our society.
"For many of these victims, the bombardment of scam mail results in fear, severe financial difficulties and ultimately a decline in both physical and mental health.
"In some cases in the UK it has ended in suicide.
"We hope that Mass Marketing Fraud Awareness Week and the action that we will take in the future will raise awareness of this crime amongst all sectors of society and prevent more people from falling victim to it."
Think Jessica’s Marilyn Baldwin, said: "My mother Jessica was in her late 70s and suffering from (undiagnosed) age-related declining mental health when she was hunted down by scam mail criminals.
"For five years I tried to convince my mum that she was being scammed, but criminals claiming to be clairvoyants, lottery officials and solicitors led her to believe the family were against her; she would not co-operate.
"I believe that the thousands of scam letters we removed from her home contributed to her death in 2007.
"I started the campaign www.thinkjessica.com three years ago and during that time we have been alerted to thousands of elderly and vulnerable silent victims who are being tricked, "befriended" and threatened by criminals worldwide.
"The most effective way of stopping these criminals from succeeding is by refusing to engage with them – this is the message we hope to spread during this week of awareness."
SOCA fraud man Colin Woodcock, said: "Mass marketing fraud is serious organised crime and every organisation involved in this campaign is committed to fighting it. But the single most powerful weapon we have in that fight is better public awareness. If you suspect that someone close to you is a victim, there is help and advice available. Don’t let the criminals get away with it."
City of London Police’s Detective Superintendent Tony Crampton, said: "As the lead force for investigating fraud in this country, we work year round to bring to justice those people behind these scams. Make no mistake, these are not casual fraudsters, but ruthless and calculated criminal gangs, with a business-like approach to conning vulnerable victims out of their money. But that professional approach does not prevent us from catching them, prosecuting them, and putting them behind bars. This campaign sends a clear message to the criminals who target the vulnerable: you are on our radar, and more and more people are becoming aware of the tricks of your trade."
