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An Edinburgh mum has warned others to be on their guard after nearly falling for a convincing an online scam.
Heather Dalgarno, 40, was targeted by fraudsters pretending to be from Royal Mail while she was waiting on a package arriving.
The scam involved a text message and website claiming to be linked to the firm telling Heather there was an error with the delivery of her parcel.
In what had seemed like legitimate contact, Heather told Edinburgh Live that deliveries often are missed from her home as it is difficult to find, so believed this is what had happened.
After only realising at the last minute that something was wrong, she said: “I got the message and at a glance thought it was legitimate, the url seemed plausible and led to what I believed to be the official Royal Mail website. I’m familiar with that website and the fonts and layout looked right so it didn’t raise any alarms.
“I had been expecting a delivery on the day they claimed an attempt had been made and I was angry because we were self isolating and home that day. It didn’t occur to me at that point that this meant the text was a scam, I just immediately thought it was a Royal Mail error as we have a hard to find address that often causes failed deliveries.
“I tried to phone Royal Mail customer service to complain about the charge and missed delivery, but their phone line is infuriating and after five minutes of recorded messages and options I was told an average wait time of at least 20 minutes was likely so I gave up and decided just to pay the small fee and complain later.”
However, after entering her bank details, Heather quickly began to think it was a scam.
She continued: “I entered my details as requested and at this point I really should have realised something was amiss but I was annoyed and distracted dealing with the kids. It asked me for address, card, and bank account details. I entered these and hit submit, only to get an ‘error’ that said I’d be redirected to my bank to confirm my details. I was ‘redirected’ to what again looked like my legitimate online banking page
“That’s the point I realised that this didn’t feel right, I didn’t enter my banking login details. I then called Royal Mail again and persevered through the now 26-minute wait to speak to someone. T
“They immediately confirmed it was a scam, that Royal Mail would never ask for these details, and that any postage fee required would always be communicated via a card through the door. I called my bank immediately after and cancelled my card.”
The following day, Heather then received a scam phone call from who she believes to be the same people, who had then pretended to be the bank’s fraud department.
After two days of being targeted, she urged everyone to be careful, and explained just how easily she was swayed into believing it was real.
“I felt very foolish to have been caught out by this one”, she said.
“The websites looked so convincing and combined with my expectation of a delivery and my annoyance and distraction I didn’t realise until too late that it was a scam.
“I would advise anyone that gets a message claiming a postage or customs fee is due for any reason to ignore the messages as legitimate cases will always arrive via post. I shared my story in the hopes that others will not be similarly caught out.”
Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “Royal Mail will only send email and SMS notifications to customers in cases where the sender has requested this when using our trackable products that offer this service.
“The only time we would ask customers to make a payment by email or by SMS is in instances where a customs fee is due. In such cases, we would also leave a grey card telling customers that there’s a Fee to Pay before we can release the item. This would apply either to an international customs fee or to a surcharge for an underpaid item.
“This card may arrive later than the email or SMS. Royal Mail Group works hard to prevent and detect fraud. We work with UK law enforcement agencies, Trading Standards and other organisations to share information and support robust proactive action against scams. Customers looking for advice on how to spot a fake notification should visit www.royalmail.com/scamprotection. Here they can view examples of current scams, and get advice on appropriate action.”
