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And with many of us expecting a flurry of parcels as Christmas arrives, scammers will be sending out a range of fake texts and emails to try and catch us out.
Consumer watchdog Which? teamed up with the DNS Research Federation (DNSRF), an Oxford-based non-profit, to explore the worst-hit brands when it comes to copycat websites.
The study found that home delivery companies are the second-most abused sector, second to tech giants.
There were more than 50,000 reports of copycat websites over the last year.
Which? warned: “Scammers will typically direct you to fake home delivery websites by sending fake text messages and emails, claiming that you need to rearrange a missed delivery.
“The public faces phishing and other scams all year round, but with Christmas little more than a month away, your chance of falling for a delivery scams is particularly high.”
These were the most copied brands that operate in the UK:
- Amazon
- DHL
- Royal Mail
- Evri
- UPS
- Post Office
- InPost
- eBay
- DPD
Amazon told Which? it offered extensive help pages to help customers avoid falling victim to scams.
DHL said genuine emails will always end in dhl.com, dhl.nl, dhlparcel.nl or dhlecommerce.nl and real payment requests from DHL always state the number of your package.
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Royal Mail said in cases where customers needed to pay a surcharge for an underpaid item, it will leave a grey Fee to Pay card, and would not request the payment through text or email.
Evri urges customers to check the “three L’s” of language (poor language and badly written messages), lack of (lack of personal information such as a tracking number of your delivery address), and link (unusual links or buttons that urge you to take action such as pay a re-delivery fee, which Evri never requests).
eBay said the vast majority of communications will appear in the messages tab of the eBay app or website.
While InPost has a security section online and said anyone expecting a delivery will get a message with the parcel number, delivery address, collection code and pick-up reminder.
Which? gives the following advice to people who think they may have received a scam delivery text: “Don’t respond to any suspicious messages, click on links or provide personal details.
“Instead, report the message by forwarding it to 7726 (for free) so that your network can investigate. Then delete the message and block the contact.
“If you aren’t sure whether a message is genuine, get in touch with the company or organisation it claims to be from. Never use any of the contact details from the text – go to the organisation’s website directly to find more info.
“Check your phone’s security settings for features aimed at reducing unwanted messages and calls, such as spam filters and call blocking.
“If you’ve been scammed, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you live in Scotland.”
