Scam warning issued to anyone expecting a delivery from Hermes

Anyone expecting a parcel from Hermes should be aware of a new scam.

A number of customers have reportedly fallen victim to the scam where people receive convincing texts about rescheduling missed deliveries.

These latest parcel scams follow similar fake messages purporting to be from Royal Mail and other shipping companies, Liverpool Echo report.

Posting on a neighbourhood app, one woman, who lives in Formby, 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.”

Many people were quick to comment on the post.

One man, who appears to work for Hermes, said: “Ignore it, we never charge for delivery. Spread the word.”

A woman said: “This happened to me twice. Strange thing is I was waiting for a parcel both times.

“First time 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.”

Another wrote: “I have had a few of these. It is very clever because who isn’t expecting a parcel?”

This type of scam is known as smishing, a combination of SMS (texting) and phishing, a type of cybercrime in which the scammers are fishing for financial or other details.

Hermes says it will never ask for sensitive information.

Security advice on the delivery service’s website reads: “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
• 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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