Say No To 090- Beware of new scam

What happens is, they put a card through your door saying they were unable to deliver a parcel and give you a number to phone to sort of a new delivery date. The trouble is, it’s an 090 premium rate number and you end up paying over £10. And, of course, the parcel doesn’t exist.

It's clever because lots of people are getting unexpected parcels as presents this time of year. Clever also because very few of us understand the complexities of dialling codes. (I had someone who phoned Your Life Your Style to place an order complaining about the expense of our 0845 number until I pointed out that we chose this local rate number so she didn’t have to pay the cost of a long distance call.)

The old theory of selling was that you appealed to people’s fear or their greed and that seems to be exactly what’s going on with scammers. Fear: they will protect your computer from viruses or your bank account security has been compromised. Greed: they tell you you’ve won a lottery or can make a profit from money in a Nigerian bank account or have a tax refund.

Evil scammers understand and exploit their victims. Conversely, good salespeople understand and help their customers. It’s a joy for me to watch our shop manager Wendy. She greets customers and lets them know she’s there to serve them. She doesn’t pester them but if they look pensive, she asks if she can help. She asks questions to understand what they need. She listens. She offers solutions. No appeals to fear or greed, no arm twisting, no conning, just service.

Scammers could be good at that if they hadn't gone over to the Dark Side.

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