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A warning is being issued to last-minute Christmas shoppers that there is a rise in scam delivery text messages.
With online shopping increasing this year, there are expected to be huge numbers of parcels delivered to households across the UK in the coming days.
In the final three months of this year, bogus texts have more than tripled since the same period in 2020.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson not announcing post-Christmas Covid-19 restrictions in England this week
A trade association representing banks and other financial firms, UK Finance, said just over half (55.94 per cent) of all reported “smishing” text messages in the final three months of this year have claimed to be from parcel delivery companies.
In the same period in 2020, 16.37 per cent of scam texts were about parcels, which means bogus parcel delivery texts have more than tripled this year.
The figures from UK finance were obtained from cybersecurity company Proofpoint, which is the operator of the 7726 text message system on behalf of UK mobile phone networks which allows customers to report suspected scam texts.
(Image: Ben Birchall/PA Wire)
The reports that the public sends in are then used by the National Cyber Security Centre to take down fraudulent websites and stop any further losses due to scams.
These scam texts often say that the delivery driver has not been able to make a delivery and then asks residents to pay a charge or provide further details to arrange redelivery.
Following that, there is usually a link to a scam website that asks for personal and financial information.
UK Finance is also warning the public to look out for purchase scams.
It has said that auction websites and social media platforms are being used much more often by criminals operating these scams, in which a customer pays for goods or services in advance, that are then never received.
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Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: “Scrooge-like criminals are using the festive season to try and trick people out of their cash. Whether you’re shopping online or waiting for deliveries over the festive period, it’s important to be on the lookout for scams.
“Don’t let fraudsters steal your Christmas – always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and stop and think before parting with your information or money.”
Jacinta Tobin, vice-president of Cloudmark Operations for Proofpoint, said: “Consumers need to be very sceptical of mobile messages that come from unknown sources.
“It’s important to never click on links in text messages, no matter how realistic they look. If you want to contact the purported vendor sending you a link, do so directly through their website and always manually enter the web address/URL.
“For offer codes, type them directly into the site as well. It’s also vital that you don’t respond to strange texts or texts from unknown sources. Doing so will often confirm you’re a real person to future scammers.”
Have you been affected by a delivery scam? Our reporter, Ben, would love to hear from you – ben.bloch@reachplc.com
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