- Thousands of people have been conned out of cash by a
scam based on bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code.
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- Those duped have been lured by the promise of good luck
and immense riches if they fork out £25 for a "Codex of Leonardo
da Vinci".
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- But what they have received is a virtually worthless
tin-pressed pendant sent by an anonymous "astro-medium".
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- It is the latest in a string of scams which has reaped
a fortune from an amazing five million victims in the UK, a consumer watchdog
has warned.
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- The Da Vinci Code swindle claims to solve all money troubles
in exchange for just £25, according to investigators from Which?
magazine.
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- In return for the cash, the recipient of a cleverly worded
card is promised the golden Codex of Leonardo da Vinci. Riding on the back
of the success of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, blonde clairvoyant
"Magadalena" vows to lavish gold coins upon the legendary artist's
"legitimate heir" - the only one capable of cracking the Codex.
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- The card guarantees "images will appear on the golden
screen" of the Codex to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure "reserved
especially for you".
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- But Which? says: "The Jiffy envelope in which it
arrived was probably worth more". The mysterious Codex is the tin
pendant sent from an untraceable PO Box address in Switzerland.
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- Which? editor Malcolm Coles said: "The con artists
who run these scams are experts in fooling people to part with their money.
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- "Unfortunately, it's rare to get something for nothing
- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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- "No doubt we'll next receive a letter telling us
that we are Dumbledore's legitimate heir and the key to Hogwarts is ours."
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- Which? found the biggest scam is on premium rate phone
lines, with two million adults falling victim to the hoax promising big
prizes, such as holidays and cars, which never materialise.
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- A third of adults surveyed by the watchdog were subjected
to direct mail stunts while one in 10 have had phoney psychic mailshots
whose predictions pledge to "change your life forever".
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- Last year, 28million people were on the receiving end
of at least one scam, the Which? probe revealed, ranging from dodgy offers
of work at home to the Nigerian money-transfer scandal.
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- One in five of us had a brush with international lottery
rip-offs and nearly one in 10 had come into contact with pyramid schemes.
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- Fortunately, 23million of us saw right through all of
them.
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- Mr Coles warned: "Avoid giving them information
they need by checking thoroughly before confirming email addresses or giving
bank account details to anybody you don't know."
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- Below is the Which? guide to some of the sneakiest scams.
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- ruki.sayid@mirror.co.uk
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- OTHER COMMON SCAMS TO WATCH OUT FOR
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- PREMIUM PHONE LINES
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- FAMILIES are sent a letter stating they have won a great
prize but must call a premium rate number costing £1.50 a minute
to claim it.
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- Most calls last at least five minutes for a minimum £7.50
and the goods never arrive.
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- A new twist is a note claiming an important parcel needs
to be collected â¤" with a premium rate number the only
contact.
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- Which? says: "If you receive a call or a note telling
you that you've won a competition you have never entered, treat it with
suspicion."
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- FOREIGN LOTTERY
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- A LETTER tells you an online lottery ballot has given
you a jackpot of £1.5million but asks for a release fee of £47,000.
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- It wants confirmation of name, address and phone number
by email. Even if you do not hand over cash, giving out your details is
enough for the gang to commit identity fraud.
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- And Which? advises: "Shred any approach from a foreign
lottery. You just can't win if you did not buy a ticket."
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- CHARITY COLLECTION
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- JANUARY is the prime time for scam artists posing as
charity collectors.
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- In particular, watch out for leaflets that are offering
free collection of household or electrical goods.
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- Some do not give any of the proceeds to charity, while
others say only one per cent of the value raised will be donated.
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- Which? advises: "Look out for a registered charity
number â¤" or you can call up the Charity Commission
on 0845 3000 218 to check out the authenticity of the would-be collectors."
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- NIGERIAN 419
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- AN OLD trick named after a section of Nigerian penal
code, it is usually a hard luck story in which the sender of an email has
fallen foul of his government and needs help to unlock assets or seal a
deal.
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- The sender says he or she is willing to share proceeds
with you â¤" in exchange for a foreign bank account number.
Respondents are then asked to fork out cash as problems crop up. According
to Which?: "Organised criminals run such scams."
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- WORK FROM HOME
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- RIP-OFF merchants ask for around £30 up front for
a joining pack.
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- When this arrives, it tells you to take an advertisement
in the local newspaper publicising a work-from-home scheme.
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- It advises that you send anyone who takes the bait a
copy of the joining pack and charge them £30 for it. There is no
end product â¤" just classified adverts offering work
at home.
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- Which? says: "If you respond to an ad on working
from home and are asked for money up front, it's likely to be a scam."
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- PYRAMID
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- GULLIBLE punters are persuaded to part with around £1,500
to join a pyramid and start out at the bottom.
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- The money goes to the person whose name is at the top
and new joiners have to recruit fresh people in the hope of moving up the
pyramid themselves and finally making a profit.
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- Which? concludes: "These schemes are inevitably
doomed to fail.
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- "There simply is not an infinite number of people
who are willing to join and, when no one else can be persuaded, the pyramid
collapses and the remaining participants lose all the money they invested
buying into it."
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- MATRIX
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- THE matrix operates via websites and asks you to buy
a cheap item such as a ringtone in exchange for a much more expensive product,
such as an iPod.
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- Once signed up, you go on a waiting list and are offered
the chance to move quickly through the ranks by recruiting more players.
It could ask for up to 30 new recruits who in turn have to enlist 30 more
recruits.
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- Which? says: "The nature of the matrix means that
the number of members waiting for a free gift always exceeds the number
of free gifts awarded.
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- "And those who sign up late are unlikely to reach
the top of the list."
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- CLAIRVOYANT
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- SUCH scams promise to enlighten you for around £27.
Charlatans send out millions of personalised mail shots to hoodwink recipients
into thinking they are being singled out for special treatment.
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- They promise a luck chart with a guide of landmark events
and then write back asking for more cash so they can send you winning lottery
numbers as well.
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- Which? says: "If they know winning numbers, why
don't they scoop the jackpot themselves?"
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