As you know we are generally a big fan of postcards, they cost less than 6p each from The Postcard Store, but when one of our readers told us about a postcard they had received, I thought I should warn you about the scam as soon as possible.

The card seems innocent enough, it says that you have won a sum of money, but that the promoters have been unable to contact you to arrange payment, and then it asks you to call a toll-free number.

Our reader says she was sure it was a scam, but as it was a free telephone call, she couldn’t see how the scam worked. Looking at the card, there are several warnings, first the use of a ‘toll-free’ as opposed to ‘freephone’. This indicates a US or overseas company behind the operation, this straight away gets me worried.

The card then says you must phone or visit the office of a very reliable sounding Brown, Davis & Wright but doesn’t have their address anywhere. So they are ‘forcing’ you to call the number, with no indication of where they are, a second warning bell sounds and then there is the number itself.

Although the card says ‘toll-free’ it is actually a standard London number starting 020, for me this was the final warning, what legitimate company would say their number was free when it wasn’t?

If I had received the card myself it would now be in the re-cycling, but in the interests of research I called the number to see if anyone would answer. I was greeted by a voice saying - ‘thank you for reaching our automated…’. I hung up straight away, as I think I know what the scam is.

Far from the call being free, your call is forwarded to a second line (the original call to the 020 number is disconnected) and the second line is a premium rate call, where you are charged by the second. By the time you have received your bill and worked out how to complain to BT, the scammer will have duped a lot of people, made loads of money and disappeared.

If you know of anyone who has received a similar postcard or promotion please forward this email on to them. I will contact BT and tell them what I think is happening, so hopefully we can get this shut down quickly.

On to today’s competitions

Win £300 of classic English tableware                                   Closes 25 April 2013

Question: What nationality was the scientist, Justus Liebig who discovered marmite?

Our advice: German

Enter online at www.greatbritishchefs.com

Win a VIP trip to Cannes on a yacht                                      Closes 25 April 2013

Enter via Facebook at www.facebook.com

Win a Footprint travel guide of your choice                           Closes 25 April 2013

Enter your details online at www.footprinttravelguides.com

That’s it for this week, but if anyone receives a mailing or promotion they aren’t sure about and would like us to look into it, please don’t hesitate to send it to us.