Nationwide problem

Royal Mail is committed to tackling scam mail, and has stopped around 3.8 million illegal scam mail letters from being delivered into customers’ homes since November 2016.

Scam mail, which often comes from abroad, targets the most vulnerable in our society. It could contain a fraudulent claim that the victim has won a prize or news of an offer that does not exist.

Victims of scam mail can suffer from poor physical or mental health. Some build up debts as a result of sending cash through to fraudsters or see their funds siphoned off by criminals who have requested their bank account details or sold those details on to other scammers.

The issue is a nationwide problem. The average scam mail target age is 74 and living alone. But anyone can be a target of mail scammers, with 53% of scam mail letters aimed at people over the age of 65.

A dedicated scam mail helpline exists to help customers and colleagues identify and report scam mail.

To report scam mail contact the Royal Mail scam mail team by phone on 0800 0113 466, email at scam.mail@royalmail.com or by mail at FREEPOST SCAM MAIL.