Courierology :

July 2007

Jobs for Drivers (www.jobs-for-drivers.co.uk) is looking for self-employed drives for £21.75 an hour. It is free to register, but the scam part is they ask for references to complete your registration and they pass you on to a ‘referencing agency’ called CRS — and it will cost your £49.65

They do say you can send them a recent copy of a CRB check, or you can use an alternative service, but CRS will do it quicker.

Last year the same person who owns the jobs for drivers site ran a male escort agency on a site called CRS Employment, and the jobs for drivers site is a copy of that site.

This is very similar to the Pathway Driving Services scam of a couple of years ago, which also required drivers to pay for checks as part of the signup.

Update: August 2007

The Daily Mirror has published an article about JFD.

They believe the JFD and Pathway scams were both run by Patrick Quinn, who was last heard of in Alicante, Spain.

Update: September 2007

JFD are now sending emails to say they are moving to new offices, they are building up their client base, they have been misunderstood, they will be able to offer more work in future, and other such rubbish.

Don't believe a word of it — they are just playing for time and trying to rope in a few more suckers.

July 2007

Andy Stephens, director of Postal & Courier, has set up yet another site selling a manual and promising earnings of £250 a day ‘driving your own car or van’.

This one (www.crvcourier.com) says they have a fully-staffed office at a London address, which is actually a mail box at Mail Boxes etc.

November 2006

A couple of last year's scams are still running, with new victims signing up despite warnings on Watchdog and here and on other sites. The simple rule is: do not pay to get work!

Logistic Link

Logistic link now charge £30 a week for the priviledge of being on a useless database and getting no work.

The BBC report is on the Watchdog web site, there is an item in The Daily Mirror and there is a codforum topic about them.

Central Courier Company (courierdrivers.co.uk)

They are charging £75 sign-up fee to join, with claims of earning up to £250 a day (although they are careful not to promise anything). They will also try to sell you GIT insurance for £150 or so.

Read the codforum topic about them.

October 2006

The Uk Deliveries Association at www.ukdeliveries.org is advertising work for couriers, sometimes promising £20 to £50 an hour with “no experience necessary”.

It's a scam to get you to send text messages to a premium-rate number at £1.50 a time.

October 2006

Lots of couriers are getting spam emails asking for money to get put on a list of MOD suppliers. It is a scam.

If you are interested in getting MoD contracts you can register with them at www.contracts.mod.uk

September 2006

The “Independent Courier Assist Network” at www.icancourier.com is a new site run by Courier Assist Ltd.

I can't find any mention of Postal & Courier on the site, but the content is almost identical to the P&C site at www.freelance-courier.co.uk and the picture of the office staff shows the same people as the staff at P&C, although it is supposed to be at a different address.

Why would they set up a new business and site? One reason could be that Postal & Courier have been prevented from using the “£250 a day” adds by the Advertising Standards Authority (see item below), but that ruling doesn't apply to Courier Assist Ltd and they are enticing gullible people in with the same claims.

September 2006

The calendar and wall planner people are busy again, trying to sell advertising space on next year's publications, supposedly to raise money for charity.

They are scams.

If you want to give money to charity give it to them direct, don't line the scammers' pockets!

August 2006

There is a new site at www.courierscams.org.uk warning about all the scams and rip-offs — but in my opinion the site is a scam!

The domain was registered by an individual called Andy Stephens but the site doesn't include any contact details.

It lists the Logistic Link scam and describes a few of the 'freelance courier manual' sites, with lots of details and 'facts'

Then it lists two sites that are run by Postal & Courier (one of the original rip-off merchants - see below) and says they have ‘received positive feedback’ about those sites.

The director of Postal & Courier is Andy Stephens. Does he think we are complete idiots?

August 2006 - update

The links to the P&C manual have been removed from the site, and the following message has been added:

20/08/06 - Newsflash - It appears that other web sites similar to ours have started to bully us into closing down. Obviously we will remain open for as long as possible and we have no intention of yeilding [sic] to those who have a vested interest in seeing us gone. We are here to stop the scammers and create a level playing field for the companies who are offering a genuine product and service. If we go, then who will stop the scammers?

Omigod, they're right! Who will save us?

May 2006

Another two manuals are being advertised: how2beacourier.co.uk and selfemployedcourier.com

I don't think they are connected, but they are both trying to con gullible people into parting with cash on the promise of high earnings as owner-drivers.

how2beacourier.co.uk

This one is selling for £37.50 and promises £100 to £400 a day as an “independent sameday courier”. It includes “the ONLY accurate Contacts Database available”.

selfemployedcourier.com

This one is selling a “self-employed opportunity” to earn £300+ a day (average 6-8 hours!) as a “self employed courier”. This one will cost you £19.99 and includes a list of “100’s and 100’s of courier companies that will be able to offer work nationally”.

It is a .com domain and there's no public record of who registered it, and I can't see any contact details on their site.

Don't waste your money!

If you want to learn about courier work there is plenty of free information available.

Apart from the Courierology sites there are free forums (such as codforum) and free freight exchanges (like KDC Couriers and Fetch it Now) where you can find out what it's really like and get genuine up-to-date contacts.

May 2006

This happened recently to a courier in the North West.

The customer rang to book a collection from a supplier in Manchester for delivery to Liverpool, COD. They had bought the goods on the phone with a credit card.

The courier collected the goods and took them to the delivery address. The customer appeared to come out of the address and was about to take the goods when the police arrived, arrested the man and took the goods as evidence.

The stuff had been bought with a stolen credit card and the 'customer' was waiting outside the delivery address to take the goods and run. The courier ended up with nothing except wasted time and fuel.

April 2006

TTMS was set up a couple of months ago and offers 'free advice' for new owner drivers.

This advice seems to consist of selling financial products like vehicle leasing, fuel cards and loans, although they sell a 'starter pack' for £250 and put you in touch with their “affiliated specialists”.

Their advertising seems to consist of spamming forums and individuals. They are targeting HGV ODs but they are also trying to sell to couriers.

There are other businesses called TTMS, but this one is based in Glasgow and seems to have connections with Graeme Cullen, and possibly Cattles Invoice Finance.

11 April 2006

Logistic link has been rumbling on for months now, taking £20 a week from couriers for the priviledge of being on a useless database and getting no work.

Logistic link is being investigated by police and Trading Standards in at least one county, and they were covered in BBC's Watchdog programme on 11 April 2006. The BBC report is on their web site.

According to LL's reply to the BBC, they are a genuine company but have been the subject of a 'dirty tricks campaign".

3 April 2006

Central Courier Company are still advertising their courierdrivers.co.uk scheme, and they have now started promoting 3–year multi-drop contracts with Parcel Wagon, at a cost of £999 with a £250 deposit.

Some of their web site's pages imply this is a kind of franchise, but it isn't.

If you want multi–drop work and if you are any good at it, there is always work available and you don't have to pay for contracts.

31 March 2006

The Advertising Standards Authority recently upheld a complaint against Postal & Courier for their misleading press advertisements which say you can earn £250 a day as a 'freelance courier'.

The full ASA adjudication can be found on their web site

P&C are still advertising 'unlimited income potential' in press ads, and '£250 a day in internet advertising.

31 March 2006

The Advertising Standards Authority recently upheld a complaint against Fastway for their misleading radio advertisements which say you can earn £50,000 a year running one of their franchises.

The full ASA adjudication can be found on page 12 of this document.