Post by maxwellsteer on Jan 27, 2007 17:39:49 GMT
> Imagine you received 6 letters in one day telling you that you had won a total of £821,200, a brand new Mondeo … and a sacred turquoise. You'd think it was your lucky day, wouldn’t you?
> Imagine you got a similar range of ‘awards’ the following day. Now imagine you receive 83 letters in one week, offering an apparent total of several million quid – you wouldn’t just smell a rat, you'd smell a veritable plague of rodents. Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?
> Now imagine (& this really does require imagination) you’ve received this volume of mail for FIVE YEARS – probably more than 20,000 letters – and during this time you’ve sent off a total of over £40,000 (yes, you read right, forty thousand pounds)in ‘fees’ of £20-35 each to claim the ‘reward’ or purchase some worthless good luck trinket. Meanwhile you’ve won nothing. That bit requires no imagination! But then stretch your credulity to breaking point, and imagine that – despite all that – you’re still paying out money you don’t have, hand over fist, for prizes that never arrive.
> Welcome to the my mother’s world. It defies belief because it defies the farthest reaches of rationality. Perhaps in some medieval, or mad-evil, world such credulity was commonplace? My mother is a senior citizen, a graduate who held a professional post until her retirement. Divorced, she has lived alone for several decades but has a wide circle of friends centred on an active outgoing life, which includes spiritualist beliefs.
> We’re pretty certain she’s been doing the scams for at least 5 years. We've tried everything humane & rational thing possible to help her understand that these ‘psychic’ scammers who ‘predict’ her good fortune aren’t writing to her personally but are sending the same mail-merge letter every other sucker gets. Sometimes someonelse’s letter arrives in her envelope – but no, she simply can't grasp it. They're her ‘friends’. They are doing psychic work on her behalf and ‘must be paid for it’.
> When any of us went to see her every surface in her house was covered in stacks of these completely, transparently fraudulent letters. Two weeks ago the family persuaded her to have all her mail diverted. Since then my wife & I have had a unique view into this extraordinary subculture. There’s a whole language of how these vampires prey on the fears of the vulnerable. It's like suddenly encountering shadow world with its own perverted value system – like that of virus writing or pornographic violence.
> As far as we can tell consumers of these phoney prizes & illusory promises are largely women. Yet this is an industry – & believe me, it is an industry – in which ludicrous promises are made in well-designed mailshots to willing and eager victims. One of whom apparently really is born every minute.
> Edmond de Vallès writes from Switzerland offering a ‘Telepathic Appointment reserved for Mrs Alice Cooper’ [not her real name!] for the ‘friendly rate’ of £15. His letter head announces himself as a – if not the – ‘Grand Master of Occultism’ and says that he has ‘already held two sessions of spiritual assistance for you. I must admit, however, that something is preventing me from completely liberating your energy centre for money.’ Yeah right! ‘I could clearly see that you felt my presence close to you at the beginning. You kept on turning round to see if someone was there. And then suddenly you clammed up, no longer able to overcome your lack of self-confidence.’ Vallès tells her that he would normally charge £150 for a consultation but as she is a ‘friend’ he will only charge a ‘symbolic’ £15 to continue his divinely appointed task of lightening her wallet.
> Interestingly, his return postal address [1240 Geneva 64] is the same as Gabriel d’Angelo who, coincidentally, is also a ‘Grand Master of the Occult’. You have to have a soft spot for ‘Gabriel’. He is the biggest ham of all time. He gushes to my mother that he has just returned from a ‘conference of great mediums in Munich’ [where] ‘we finally knew The name of the spiral of pure bliss[’s] happy chosen. AND THIS PERSON IS YOU ALICE! Yes, I heard about you, Alice! Over there in Munich! And you know that you were at the centre of all the medium’s [sic] concerns. I first of all heard your name in the corridors. Everyone was talking about you, quoting your name all over the place. Mrs Cooper here, Mrs Cooper there … Until the moment someone asked me: “DO YOU KNOW ALICE COOPER? It is her that the Spiral of pure bliss has chosen for great galactic happiness!” “I have known for a while” I replied calmly. “What’s more, Mrs Cooper has already been told. I am just about to a prepare a tri-synergetic guiding light for her.” If you could have seen the general astonishment …” and three more pages of school-girl gush! Accentuation as per original.
> Aerger-forum.de [Online-Magazin for Consumer Protection & Warning] states that Gabriel d’Angelo is a trade name run or managed by two Swiss companies Ariella SA & Valdora SA. The latter ‘is a Société anonyme in the commercial register of Fribourg, but previously in the register of Geneve … The firm[‘s] purpose is the selling of products by mail and the exploitation of the image Gabriel d'Angelo. Gérard Bünzli, born in Hittnau, lives in Satigny is the administrator with individual signing rights.‘
> A comical Austrian rogue named Max Monthiel encloses a postcard of his ‘Prestigious Residence’ Villa Byzance in St Tropez – tho a quick check on multimap reveals that its boasted location ‘chemin de l’abondance’ doesn’t exist. Nevertheless he invites my mother to purchase, for £27, ‘THE SECRET TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE IN 9 DAYS’ promising her that she, like him, could win 23 enormous sums within a month. ‘Have you already had a dream?’ he asks, then ‘Destiny has some pleasant surprises in store for you!’ And his postcard invites her to drop into the well-barred Villa Byzance ‘when you are a millionaire to celebrate your entry into the world of wealth with a magnum of champagne and a few bowls of caviar.’ No wonder sturgeon are an endangered species.
> But the women are far the worst. Samantha is undoubtedly also a trade-name, but evidently a rather newer one who hasn’t made it onto Scamnet yet. ‘She’ writes from Landeck Austria [with a return address in Southall]. An assiduous correspondent –five letters in one day all addressed to variants of my mother’s name– she states that a ‘projected account for £10,500’ has been opened for her. ‘It is urgent for me to intervene quickly and efficiently in your favour, I feel I must give you free [but see below!] important revelations about your destiny. You won’t believe it, dear friend!’ Except in my mother’s case, she will. Samantha continues over three pages cunningly holding out hopes of ‘big amounts of money’ predicted by tarot cards ‘because you deserve it’ with dark warnings that one must act before July 25th as something dire is on the cards the next day. All peppered with crescendos of exclamation marks and highlighting – until the final orgasmic page of tick boxes. ‘• Yes, Samantha, I really want to receive your advice and personalized help. • Yes, Samantha, reveal to me the secrets of the 4 major arcane cards of my destiny. •Yes, Samantha, I would like to receive the sealed envelope holding the crucial revelations about my destiny – so that I ward off the negative waves that threaten to burst over my future. • Yes, Samantha, I settle a little contribution of £17 (+£3 for ultra fast shipping) to cover printing & shipping.’ And so on to the bottom of the page.
> ‘Mrs Julie Haley’ informs my mother that ship-owner Alexis Onakios has ‘named you as a beneficiary’ for his fortune of £340,000. At that rate it sounds like he owned a semi in Hounslow. The £25 purchase of a mandrake [sic] is the only quid pro quo required, except for another five quid for postage. Cunningly ‘Mrs Haley’ doesn’t print contact details on her letter, so once the return envelope has been sent you’re stuffed. Also extremely small print states that ‘The photograph is not contractually binding.’ And adds ‘by legal decree [whose?] we are not bound to any ‘guarantee of results’.’ The Government of Western Australia’s Dept Consumer & Employment Protection’s ScamNet [docep.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/ScamNetl] says that “Julie Hayley is not a real person, but a trademark of ‘Calypso’ and the offer made is a commercial proposition.”
> Then there are two real old witches Lise & Rose – who if they exist, definitely live in a gingerbread house in Gland [sic!]. Aerger-forum.de says of them: ‘LISE & ROSE – [trade names] used by Esotech SA, Maja SA and Esoprim SA. The firms originally had the same address. Esotech is a Société anonyme in the commercial register of Geneve … known earlier with the name Biotech SA. Their first address was Rue du Conseil-Général 6 [later] 14, c/o Edmond Golaz, then without any address. The capital is 1000 shares CHF 100 each. The description of Esotech activities names inport [sic] and export, selling of natural and esoteric products and services especially outside Switzerland, and all related commercial operations. Anthony Weil … a Genèvese, has since 24.7.2003 the administrative function of Esotech, and the right of individual signature. The previous director was Willi Pittet, born in Crêt, lives in Gland. The revisor is Edmond Golaz…
> ‘A newspaper article in the February 28, 2004 issue of the Geneva Tribune states that Lise & Rose are under investigation. The reason is macabre. In a recent psychic scam they tell the customers that they can provide a detailed psychic reading from the ashes of a deceased person and a burned Tarot Card. In February 2004, more than 45 packages of cremated remains broke open in French Postal sorting offices. Under terrorism alert, French authorities had the ashes analyzed and traced the packages to Lise & Rose in Geneva. However, when they attempted to contact Lise & Rose, it would seem that Lise & Rose don't exist. When they tried to contact Anthony Weil, the director of the company Esoprim, he was completely untraceable; nor could they locate the previous director Willi Pittet. Next they contacted Claudio Alessi, director of the Clairvoyant Society of Geneva. He has no doubt this is a swindle. He couldn't locate Lise & Rose [n]or the company directors [of] either. Mr. Alessi states: "This action is morally indefensible and totally shameful. If they truly exist, which I doubt, they are profiting from the gullibility of people."
> Beside these five-star scammers the bogus lotteries & Award Winners Clubs, Billionaires Clubs from Canada and Australia seem very small potatoes. Of course, the sums offered are eye-watering – but then they can afford to be, since none is ever paid out. Curiously, 9 Trident Way Southall, & Brussels Airport feature as the most common return addresses. For a quick getaway in case the gig is up?
> Yes, one can joke about all this. Humour isn't just the best medicine – in this case it’s probably the only medicine that can restore a sense of proportion. Which is what is painfully lacking in the whole business. Yet here is a reasonably intelligent elderly woman utterly fixated & totally addicted to her daily postbag. Of which she believes we have ‘unfairly’ deprived her. But her bank account simply can't stand it.
> I guess as a family we have to accept a degree of responsibility. It’s probable that in the period after her retirement we did neglect her to slight extent, but she seemed so busy with her various activities that she never seemed lonely. The first inkling I had of this business was 4 years ago when we took my mother on a picnic & she told us in excited confidence that she’d just won a Canadian lottery, and that she was going to share it with us all. Chattering on, she mentioned that someone had phoned her ‘and asked for my credit card as they're going to pay it into that.’ Immediately I smelt a rat. We rushed home and I made her phone the credit card. They confirmed that a debit of C$2000 had already been applied to her card. Fortunately they were in time to reverse it, tho to this day I believe mum thinks that I was responsible for screwing up her ‘big chance’. Nor would she go to the Police about it afterwards.
> What is it – this strange collusion between fraudster and victim? It seems to thrive on a conspiracy of silence and shame. The quiet desperation of genteel poverty maybe? Yet my mother had an adequate income. Indeed what was significant to us was that she flatly refused ever to put her money in anything like Premium Bonds where she stood at least a nominal chance of winning. Yes there is some psychic claptrap about a big win, but psychologically her collusion with such transparent falsehood has to be serving some other function for her. But what this is, eludes her children.
> I have to say the response of the British authorities is characteristically supine. The DTI fully justifies its nickname as the Department of Timidity & Inaction. To be sure they’ve established a ‘Scambusters’ unit – except its effort actually to bust the scams are, at best, torpid. If you forward evidence to them all they do is send you a standard questionnaire asking how you felt about being the victim of crime. Duhh! Their website on ‘scam promotions’ addresses the easy target of unsolicited mail, skirting the psychic issues I’ve raised here. It states that: ‘Action can now also be taken across EU borders, so scams operating from Europe can be pursued. But legislation is only part of the answer. It can never entirely keep up with scams. The best weapon against scams is greater awareness and scepticism on the part of the public.’ All well and good, so why not copy the Govt of W Australia’s ScamNet? This is an excellent site displaying actual copies of letters in each scammer’s style. And anyone can post new material. Wake up someone.
-------------
But there's good news. After 6 months, my mother has fully accepted that she was deluded, and despite her initial hostility to our depriving her of her 'friends' she is now grateful to be free of the deluge of mail. At Christmas she asked rhetorically 'What did I let myself in for?'
> In the first quarter of redirection 80.4% of all her mail was scam. As a result of our religiously returning everything to sender, in the second quarter it was down to 65%. In the third quarter it stands so far at 42.6%. However it is conspicuous that scammers suspend their activities from mid-Dec to mid-Jan (no doubt while they holiday in the Bahamas) & the numbers are now creeping up again.
> Overall, in 32 weeks, my mother has received 869 scam letters - nearly 3 times her genuine mail!
> Imagine you got a similar range of ‘awards’ the following day. Now imagine you receive 83 letters in one week, offering an apparent total of several million quid – you wouldn’t just smell a rat, you'd smell a veritable plague of rodents. Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?
> Now imagine (& this really does require imagination) you’ve received this volume of mail for FIVE YEARS – probably more than 20,000 letters – and during this time you’ve sent off a total of over £40,000 (yes, you read right, forty thousand pounds)in ‘fees’ of £20-35 each to claim the ‘reward’ or purchase some worthless good luck trinket. Meanwhile you’ve won nothing. That bit requires no imagination! But then stretch your credulity to breaking point, and imagine that – despite all that – you’re still paying out money you don’t have, hand over fist, for prizes that never arrive.
> Welcome to the my mother’s world. It defies belief because it defies the farthest reaches of rationality. Perhaps in some medieval, or mad-evil, world such credulity was commonplace? My mother is a senior citizen, a graduate who held a professional post until her retirement. Divorced, she has lived alone for several decades but has a wide circle of friends centred on an active outgoing life, which includes spiritualist beliefs.
> We’re pretty certain she’s been doing the scams for at least 5 years. We've tried everything humane & rational thing possible to help her understand that these ‘psychic’ scammers who ‘predict’ her good fortune aren’t writing to her personally but are sending the same mail-merge letter every other sucker gets. Sometimes someonelse’s letter arrives in her envelope – but no, she simply can't grasp it. They're her ‘friends’. They are doing psychic work on her behalf and ‘must be paid for it’.
> When any of us went to see her every surface in her house was covered in stacks of these completely, transparently fraudulent letters. Two weeks ago the family persuaded her to have all her mail diverted. Since then my wife & I have had a unique view into this extraordinary subculture. There’s a whole language of how these vampires prey on the fears of the vulnerable. It's like suddenly encountering shadow world with its own perverted value system – like that of virus writing or pornographic violence.
> As far as we can tell consumers of these phoney prizes & illusory promises are largely women. Yet this is an industry – & believe me, it is an industry – in which ludicrous promises are made in well-designed mailshots to willing and eager victims. One of whom apparently really is born every minute.
> Edmond de Vallès writes from Switzerland offering a ‘Telepathic Appointment reserved for Mrs Alice Cooper’ [not her real name!] for the ‘friendly rate’ of £15. His letter head announces himself as a – if not the – ‘Grand Master of Occultism’ and says that he has ‘already held two sessions of spiritual assistance for you. I must admit, however, that something is preventing me from completely liberating your energy centre for money.’ Yeah right! ‘I could clearly see that you felt my presence close to you at the beginning. You kept on turning round to see if someone was there. And then suddenly you clammed up, no longer able to overcome your lack of self-confidence.’ Vallès tells her that he would normally charge £150 for a consultation but as she is a ‘friend’ he will only charge a ‘symbolic’ £15 to continue his divinely appointed task of lightening her wallet.
> Interestingly, his return postal address [1240 Geneva 64] is the same as Gabriel d’Angelo who, coincidentally, is also a ‘Grand Master of the Occult’. You have to have a soft spot for ‘Gabriel’. He is the biggest ham of all time. He gushes to my mother that he has just returned from a ‘conference of great mediums in Munich’ [where] ‘we finally knew The name of the spiral of pure bliss[’s] happy chosen. AND THIS PERSON IS YOU ALICE! Yes, I heard about you, Alice! Over there in Munich! And you know that you were at the centre of all the medium’s [sic] concerns. I first of all heard your name in the corridors. Everyone was talking about you, quoting your name all over the place. Mrs Cooper here, Mrs Cooper there … Until the moment someone asked me: “DO YOU KNOW ALICE COOPER? It is her that the Spiral of pure bliss has chosen for great galactic happiness!” “I have known for a while” I replied calmly. “What’s more, Mrs Cooper has already been told. I am just about to a prepare a tri-synergetic guiding light for her.” If you could have seen the general astonishment …” and three more pages of school-girl gush! Accentuation as per original.
> Aerger-forum.de [Online-Magazin for Consumer Protection & Warning] states that Gabriel d’Angelo is a trade name run or managed by two Swiss companies Ariella SA & Valdora SA. The latter ‘is a Société anonyme in the commercial register of Fribourg, but previously in the register of Geneve … The firm[‘s] purpose is the selling of products by mail and the exploitation of the image Gabriel d'Angelo. Gérard Bünzli, born in Hittnau, lives in Satigny is the administrator with individual signing rights.‘
> A comical Austrian rogue named Max Monthiel encloses a postcard of his ‘Prestigious Residence’ Villa Byzance in St Tropez – tho a quick check on multimap reveals that its boasted location ‘chemin de l’abondance’ doesn’t exist. Nevertheless he invites my mother to purchase, for £27, ‘THE SECRET TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE IN 9 DAYS’ promising her that she, like him, could win 23 enormous sums within a month. ‘Have you already had a dream?’ he asks, then ‘Destiny has some pleasant surprises in store for you!’ And his postcard invites her to drop into the well-barred Villa Byzance ‘when you are a millionaire to celebrate your entry into the world of wealth with a magnum of champagne and a few bowls of caviar.’ No wonder sturgeon are an endangered species.
> But the women are far the worst. Samantha is undoubtedly also a trade-name, but evidently a rather newer one who hasn’t made it onto Scamnet yet. ‘She’ writes from Landeck Austria [with a return address in Southall]. An assiduous correspondent –five letters in one day all addressed to variants of my mother’s name– she states that a ‘projected account for £10,500’ has been opened for her. ‘It is urgent for me to intervene quickly and efficiently in your favour, I feel I must give you free [but see below!] important revelations about your destiny. You won’t believe it, dear friend!’ Except in my mother’s case, she will. Samantha continues over three pages cunningly holding out hopes of ‘big amounts of money’ predicted by tarot cards ‘because you deserve it’ with dark warnings that one must act before July 25th as something dire is on the cards the next day. All peppered with crescendos of exclamation marks and highlighting – until the final orgasmic page of tick boxes. ‘• Yes, Samantha, I really want to receive your advice and personalized help. • Yes, Samantha, reveal to me the secrets of the 4 major arcane cards of my destiny. •Yes, Samantha, I would like to receive the sealed envelope holding the crucial revelations about my destiny – so that I ward off the negative waves that threaten to burst over my future. • Yes, Samantha, I settle a little contribution of £17 (+£3 for ultra fast shipping) to cover printing & shipping.’ And so on to the bottom of the page.
> ‘Mrs Julie Haley’ informs my mother that ship-owner Alexis Onakios has ‘named you as a beneficiary’ for his fortune of £340,000. At that rate it sounds like he owned a semi in Hounslow. The £25 purchase of a mandrake [sic] is the only quid pro quo required, except for another five quid for postage. Cunningly ‘Mrs Haley’ doesn’t print contact details on her letter, so once the return envelope has been sent you’re stuffed. Also extremely small print states that ‘The photograph is not contractually binding.’ And adds ‘by legal decree [whose?] we are not bound to any ‘guarantee of results’.’ The Government of Western Australia’s Dept Consumer & Employment Protection’s ScamNet [docep.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/ScamNetl] says that “Julie Hayley is not a real person, but a trademark of ‘Calypso’ and the offer made is a commercial proposition.”
> Then there are two real old witches Lise & Rose – who if they exist, definitely live in a gingerbread house in Gland [sic!]. Aerger-forum.de says of them: ‘LISE & ROSE – [trade names] used by Esotech SA, Maja SA and Esoprim SA. The firms originally had the same address. Esotech is a Société anonyme in the commercial register of Geneve … known earlier with the name Biotech SA. Their first address was Rue du Conseil-Général 6 [later] 14, c/o Edmond Golaz, then without any address. The capital is 1000 shares CHF 100 each. The description of Esotech activities names inport [sic] and export, selling of natural and esoteric products and services especially outside Switzerland, and all related commercial operations. Anthony Weil … a Genèvese, has since 24.7.2003 the administrative function of Esotech, and the right of individual signature. The previous director was Willi Pittet, born in Crêt, lives in Gland. The revisor is Edmond Golaz…
> ‘A newspaper article in the February 28, 2004 issue of the Geneva Tribune states that Lise & Rose are under investigation. The reason is macabre. In a recent psychic scam they tell the customers that they can provide a detailed psychic reading from the ashes of a deceased person and a burned Tarot Card. In February 2004, more than 45 packages of cremated remains broke open in French Postal sorting offices. Under terrorism alert, French authorities had the ashes analyzed and traced the packages to Lise & Rose in Geneva. However, when they attempted to contact Lise & Rose, it would seem that Lise & Rose don't exist. When they tried to contact Anthony Weil, the director of the company Esoprim, he was completely untraceable; nor could they locate the previous director Willi Pittet. Next they contacted Claudio Alessi, director of the Clairvoyant Society of Geneva. He has no doubt this is a swindle. He couldn't locate Lise & Rose [n]or the company directors [of] either. Mr. Alessi states: "This action is morally indefensible and totally shameful. If they truly exist, which I doubt, they are profiting from the gullibility of people."
> Beside these five-star scammers the bogus lotteries & Award Winners Clubs, Billionaires Clubs from Canada and Australia seem very small potatoes. Of course, the sums offered are eye-watering – but then they can afford to be, since none is ever paid out. Curiously, 9 Trident Way Southall, & Brussels Airport feature as the most common return addresses. For a quick getaway in case the gig is up?
> Yes, one can joke about all this. Humour isn't just the best medicine – in this case it’s probably the only medicine that can restore a sense of proportion. Which is what is painfully lacking in the whole business. Yet here is a reasonably intelligent elderly woman utterly fixated & totally addicted to her daily postbag. Of which she believes we have ‘unfairly’ deprived her. But her bank account simply can't stand it.
> I guess as a family we have to accept a degree of responsibility. It’s probable that in the period after her retirement we did neglect her to slight extent, but she seemed so busy with her various activities that she never seemed lonely. The first inkling I had of this business was 4 years ago when we took my mother on a picnic & she told us in excited confidence that she’d just won a Canadian lottery, and that she was going to share it with us all. Chattering on, she mentioned that someone had phoned her ‘and asked for my credit card as they're going to pay it into that.’ Immediately I smelt a rat. We rushed home and I made her phone the credit card. They confirmed that a debit of C$2000 had already been applied to her card. Fortunately they were in time to reverse it, tho to this day I believe mum thinks that I was responsible for screwing up her ‘big chance’. Nor would she go to the Police about it afterwards.
> What is it – this strange collusion between fraudster and victim? It seems to thrive on a conspiracy of silence and shame. The quiet desperation of genteel poverty maybe? Yet my mother had an adequate income. Indeed what was significant to us was that she flatly refused ever to put her money in anything like Premium Bonds where she stood at least a nominal chance of winning. Yes there is some psychic claptrap about a big win, but psychologically her collusion with such transparent falsehood has to be serving some other function for her. But what this is, eludes her children.
> I have to say the response of the British authorities is characteristically supine. The DTI fully justifies its nickname as the Department of Timidity & Inaction. To be sure they’ve established a ‘Scambusters’ unit – except its effort actually to bust the scams are, at best, torpid. If you forward evidence to them all they do is send you a standard questionnaire asking how you felt about being the victim of crime. Duhh! Their website on ‘scam promotions’ addresses the easy target of unsolicited mail, skirting the psychic issues I’ve raised here. It states that: ‘Action can now also be taken across EU borders, so scams operating from Europe can be pursued. But legislation is only part of the answer. It can never entirely keep up with scams. The best weapon against scams is greater awareness and scepticism on the part of the public.’ All well and good, so why not copy the Govt of W Australia’s ScamNet? This is an excellent site displaying actual copies of letters in each scammer’s style. And anyone can post new material. Wake up someone.
-------------
But there's good news. After 6 months, my mother has fully accepted that she was deluded, and despite her initial hostility to our depriving her of her 'friends' she is now grateful to be free of the deluge of mail. At Christmas she asked rhetorically 'What did I let myself in for?'
> In the first quarter of redirection 80.4% of all her mail was scam. As a result of our religiously returning everything to sender, in the second quarter it was down to 65%. In the third quarter it stands so far at 42.6%. However it is conspicuous that scammers suspend their activities from mid-Dec to mid-Jan (no doubt while they holiday in the Bahamas) & the numbers are now creeping up again.
> Overall, in 32 weeks, my mother has received 869 scam letters - nearly 3 times her genuine mail!
