HOUSEHOLDERS were today warned that dodgy mailshots posted from Amsterdam were nothing but "double dutch."

Trading standards chiefs have urged people who receive leaflets from abroad to throw them straight in the bin.

The warning came after pensioners Joseph, 82 and May Mercer, 80, of Whalley Old Road, Blackburn, received a mailshot saying that a shipment of goods was ready to be delivered to them from Holland.

The mailshot asked the couple to send their credit card details to an address in Amsterdam to claim the goods worth £24.80.

But Jim Potts, chief trading standards officer in Lancashire, said it was likely the items would probably be junk jewellery.

He said: "We are aware of these foreign mailing cons which are becoming increasingly rife.

"We have heard of the mailshot from Amsterdam before and you could say it is a load of double dutch.

"If people send their credit card details they will probably receive some junk jewellery which is worth a lot less than £24.80.

"The worst thing people could do is give out their credit card details."

Mr Potts added: "Although we are in the European Union, there is little or no protection for consumers.

"There is protection for traders to move goods around."

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