Scammers mean business as 36m targeted this year

‘We would leave a grey Fee to Pay card. We would not request payment by email or text’

AN ESTIMATED 36 million adults have been targeted by scammers since January, according to Citizens Advice.

The money management charity said more than two-thirds – a total of 68 per cent – of people think they have been targeted by fraudsters this year so far.

The age group most likely to be targeted are over-55s.

But it is those aged 34 and under that are the ones most likely to believe scams and hand over their money to fraudsters, at a rate of almost five times more than their older counterparts.

This is due mostly to text message scams, which younger people find more believable, the majority of which are about fake parcel deliveries.

In comparison, the over-55s were more likely to be targeted over the phone, with 73 per cent of scam victims in the age group having been victimised this way.

A total of 54 per cent of attempted fraudulent contact this year has been about deliveries as online sales increased dramatically during the pandemic.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We remind our customers that Royal Mail will only send email and SMS notifications in cases where the sender has requested this when using our trackable products that offer this service.

“In cases where customers need to pay a surcharge for an underpaid item, we would let them know by leaving a grey Fee to Pay card.

“We would not request payment by email or text. The only time we would ask customers to make a payment by email or by text is in some 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.”

The spokesman went on to say that they are working with organisations to try to help crack down on parcel scams and urged people to look at their website for advice if they are not sure about a text: “Royal Mail 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. We report any offending sites and suspicious numbers to the appropriate authorities as soon as we are made aware of them.

“As well as providing useful help via our customer services channels, customers looking for additional advice on how to spot a fake notification can visit our website. Here they can view examples of scams, and get advice on taking appropriate action.”

Another 41 per cent of scammers posed as someone from the government and a further 12 per cent were from fraudsters selling made-up “get rich quick” schemes.