PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

This came from a trusted source, so I'm pretty sure the information is genuine:

Please see below re a warning which has been brought to our
> attention..!! This is a Ringmaster Message from Milton Keynes Police
> on Wednesday 3rd December 2003.
>
> There is one message to follow. The Force has received information of
> a telephone scam which is currently in operation. On answering your
> phone you will hear a recorded message as follows \"Congratulations, we
> are calling to advise that you have won an all expenses paid trip to
> an exotic destination. Please press 9 now to hear further details\".
>
> WARNING : If you do press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate
> line that bills in the region of £20 per minute. If you press 9 and
> connect, even if you disconnect immediately, the other end will stay
> connected for a minimum of 5 minutes. This will cost you £100 and
> lasts for 11 minutes. The final part of the call asks you to key in
> your postcode and house number which can lead to other serious
> consequences. Then finally, after a further 2 minutes, the call
> responds with a message saying \"Sorry, you are not one of the lucky
> winners\". Thereafter disconnecting you adding another £260 to your
> bill.
>
> Unfortunately, the calls are originating from outside the UK and
> British Telecom and other telephone companies are relatively powerless
> to act.
>
> The safe solution is to hang up before the message asks you to press
> 9.

It's a hoax. You can't have a premium rate phone number at that price - there is a maximum of something like £2 per minute. Some poor policeman has already had egg on his face over this: See here

Bethalize
Peer Moderator

Whoops!  Sorry guys.