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Hermes has issued an urgent warning to people who are waiting for parcels to be delivered.
The delivery company urged customers to take caution after many in the UK reported being targeted by the scam.
The scammers begin the con by creating fake text messages pretending to be from Royal Mail or another shipping company such as Hermes, the Liverpool Echo reported.
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One woman posted in her local neighbourhood group warning others not to fall victim to the scam.
She said: “I received a text from Hermes telling me it’d failed to deliver parcel (I was actually waiting for a parcel) and asking to reschedule at a cost of £1.49 and asking for card and bank details.
“Having contacted [the retailer she had ordered from], I was told this was a scam. Watch out for this because it really did look like Hermes.”
Immediately, others began commenting to share similar experiences and offer advice to the woman.
One wrote: “This happened to me twice. The strange thing is I was waiting for a parcel both times.
“First time, I started the reschedule form until it started asking for £1.99. So I stopped and phoned the order company who said it was a scam.”
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Another man, who claimed to work for Hermes, confirmed the reason that a message like this would never come from the company.
He said: “Ignore it, we never charge for delivery. Spread the word.”
Another said: “I have had a few of these. It is very clever because who isn’t expecting a parcel?”
This kind of scam is known as ‘smishing’ – which comes from combining the two words ‘SMS’ (for text) and phishing.
Phishing is a kind of cybercrime that attempts to scam people out of financial details or other personal details.
Hermes’ website confirms that it does not ask for personal details from customers in cases like these.
It states: “Cybercriminals often send emails or SMS messages urging you to act immediately by giving up your private information – and it can be convincing, as they’ll often use similar or the same language and images as the companies they’re impersonating.
“They might do this by suggesting there is an issue with your: Item(s) e.g. redelivery; delivery address; or payment information
“When you enter your details, fraudsters can use this to access more of your information.
“We will never contact you by phone or email to request payment. We may contact customers by phone or email and ask for bank details to make a goodwill payment or to discuss a claim.”
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