Throughout the years, many people across the world have been tricked by complex and convoluted scams in an attempt to steal their data. The targets are usually either bank details so that they can drain the victim’s funds or log in details to sites that might contain this sensitive data, such as your Amazon account. One of the most popular scams today, which many of us receive regularly, is the delivery scam. These can be fairly easy to spot in some instances, but not always. Here is everything you need to know about the top delivery scams in 2022 and what you can do to keep yourself safe from them.
What Is A Delivery Scam?
Essentially, the delivery scam works by appearing to be a fairly believable message from a delivery service, containing a link sending you to a similarly believable website or making you download a tracking app to help you reschedule a missed delivery. Ultimately, if you follow through with this procedure, a number of things can then happen. If you downloaded an app, it’s likely to be malware that can take your data, such as logging your passwords. If you send a small payment, you might end up getting a phone call from the scammers themselves, who will then employ a number of other tactics to trick you.
Common Delivery Scams
There are a number of different delivery scams, and each has its own specific way of tricking people. They all usually begin with an SMS message, however. This is a particular type of phishing scam known as smishing. Almost all of the delivery services that operate within the UK are used as a front for these scammers, and while they are likely to not be run by the same groups, they all use very similar tactics. While these scams can claim to be from any of the delivery services in the UK, they always contain some form of URL link, directing individuals to a fake website.
Smishing Example
A message will be received claiming to be from the Royal Mail, DPD, DHL or other delivery provider and that they have failed to deliver your package. They will provide you with a link, asking you to authorise a minor payment of just a few pounds so that your supposed package can be released from their depot, and another delivery attempt can then be made. Certain individuals have fallen for these scams, and once making the payment, they have then been contacted by the scammers now claiming to be from their bank who are trying to prevent the scam itself. The scammers then try to scare these victims into transferring their money or giving up their bank details by saying that it’s the only way to keep their funds safe.
Why Do People Fall Victim?
It’s easy to simply say that falling victim to scams like this and others is simply down to ignorance or a lack of tech knowledge. However, it’s nowhere near as simple as that. Of course, developing our understanding of these scams will help us to spot these scams in the future, but the whole purpose of these scams is to replicate a real text message as much as possible. And in a world where many of us have ramped up the number of online orders we make, it’s much easier for these scammers to message someone at random that is genuinely expecting a delivery from that particular delivery provider.
How Can We Avoid These Scams?
There are quite a few ways to avoid falling victim to these scams, and many of these steps are quite straightforward. First of all, it’s important to remain calm whenever you receive a message that might be suspicious. If you do receive a text that seems to be from a scammer, it’s not because of something you’ve done wrong. Furthermore, as long as you don’t click any links, then the scammers won’t be able to do anything. The ultimate goal then is to simply ignore any suspicious messages like this. But it’s not always easy to identify these scams, and there will likely be new scams being developed in the future, which might be even more difficult to identify as scammers learn from their mistakes. You should try to keep up to date with information on new scams. You can do this by reading blogs that offer guides on detecting delivery scams. Here are some other tips on how to spot these scam messages:
- Phone Number
The first thing that you might notice is a strange phone number or one that is unidentified. Regardless of whether the name of the company is in the body of the text, if the phone number appears to be a simple mobile phone number, then there’s a strong chance it’s from a scammer.
- Unusual Contact Method
If you’ve received a text from a company that you do receive deliveries from occasionally, it’s important to think about how often, if at all, they contact you via SMS. For example, if they usually email you, a text should be a red flag.
- Unnecessary Urgency
As mentioned above, it’s important to remain calm when you receive a strange text like this, and this is because many will message with a certain level of urgency, intended to scare victims into complying with their requests.
- Grammatical Errors
One of the biggest giveaways that a text is a scam is typos and other grammatical errors. Poor use of punctuation as well as misspelt words are not characteristic of professional organisations and are instead a sign that the message is from a scammer. If you see any typos or strange grammar usage, you know it’s likely not from who it claims to be.
- Strange Link
The links that scammers send in their smishing attempts rarely appear to have any relevance to the delivery company they claim to be from. If you get a text claiming to be from the Royal Mail and the link either doesn’t contain the words Royal Mail or there are strange strings of text and numbers in the link, then this is a sign that the text is a scam. Either way, you should never click any link that is sent to you unless you are 100% certain it’s safe and from someone you trust.
Check If A Delivery Attempt Is Legitimate
These scams often work because many of us expect deliveries every day, and often we will receive correspondence when a delivery attempt has been made and has failed due to nobody being there to receive it. However, instead of listening to these texts, you should go to the source of the delivery you’re expecting to check for yourself. Visit the official website or follow the tracking link in your order email to see if an attempt has been made. If not, then you’ve confirmed that it was just a scam.
How To Report A Delivery Scam
It’s important to remember to report phishing scams whenever you detect one. You can do this via the official UK government website, and the attempt will then be investigated by the National Cyber Security Centre or NCSC. You can also forward any of these texts you receive to 7726 for free. This essentially reports the attempt to your mobile provider so that they can handle the issue. If you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam like this, you should contact Action Fraud as soon as possible on 0300 123 2040 or visit their website to report the incident there.
