Private Health: DNA kits in the mail are scams, says Aussie watchdog

The "kit" is a multi-level scam: first, it's a way of gaining credit card information. Victims swab the inside of their mouth with what looks like a miniature candy floss, or a giant Q-Tip, and put it into a container. Then they fill in their information form with their credit card information thinking that the charge they will suffer is the advertised 39.99 dollars (the type of dollar is not specified; the information is mailed to Canada to a fake company called "DNA Technologies". Unfortunately, there is a real company called "DNA Technologies - the scam has nothing to do with them . And victims expect to get a print-out of their DNA in the mail.

What they actually get is a big hit on their credit card and no test results.

The test kit is accompanied by a bizarre letter making all kinds of outlandish claims: the results, it says, can show the victim's prospects of success, wealth and even finding love and long term companionship.

Nuts, says Western Australia's Consumer Protection department.

Worse, there's a "prize draw" (10,000 of those unspecified dollars) for those who complete a detailed questionnaire. That asks for a wide range of personal and financial information - enough to start to build a picture for identity fraud.

Australia's postal service is scanning outgoing mail to try to intercept packages from victims - or on the way to victims. Although getting on for a hundred have been blocked, there is suspicion that many more are in the pipeline.