Rise in fake delivery text scams during pandemic

THREE in five (61%) people have received fake delivery company texts over the past year, according to Which? research.

With many households relying on deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic, fraudsters will pose as couriers and delivery companies to con people.

Of those who received the scam texts, four in five (79%) realised it was fake immediately – but 3% said they lost money to the scam.

Scammers use computers to generate combinations of numbers and send messages in bulk using “Sim farms” – devices that operate several Sim cards at a time, Which? said. Numbers are often masked or “spoofed” to avoid detection, so someone may appear to have received a text from a delivery company, when it is actually a scammer.

Of those surveyed who said they received one or more scam texts, seven in 10 (70%) had received one purporting to be from the Royal Mail.

Messages usually request a small payment for a parcel to be delivered, with a link to a copycat Royal Mail website, and victims are then called by scammers to try to trick them into sending large sums of money.

DHL, DPD and Hermes were the other most commonly impersonated companies in the consumer group’s survey. Some other scam texts impersonated UPS.

Fake texts can also spread harmful malware.

Spyware circulating through a message claiming to be from delivery service DHL could access sensitive information on devices after being downloaded, Which? said.