BRITS have been warned that scammers are sending fake DPD delivery texts in an attempt to steal personal information and bank details.
Con artists are pretending to be from courier firm DPD, informing the recipient that a delivery attempt has been made.
1
The text will encourage consumers to click on a link to arrange redelivery.
But the link will take you to a convincing DPD copycat website, according to consumer watchdog Which?.
The site will ask you to share your personal details and pay a small fee for a second delivery attempt.
Which? said the only giveaways that it was a fake website was the layouts of the dates and the fact it didn’t allow screenshots to be taken.
Three in five people in the UK have received a fake text from scammers pretending to be a delivery company in the past year.
Fraudsters are taking advantage of the fact that more people are shopping online.
In March, Royal Mail issued a warning to customers over similar scam texts.
Shoppers were also told to be vigilant about a new text scam that pretends to be a delivery notice from Asda or Morrisons.
Tony Pepper, chief executive of security firm Egress, said: “Cybercriminals will always take advantage of any opportunity to trick people into giving up their valuable personal and financial information.
“Over the last year, there’s been a significant increase in this type of activity, and we’ve seen scams using the branding of well-known organisations such as DPD and Royal Mail to exploit people into sharing sensitive data.”
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.
How to tell if it’s a scam
You should always check that the link is for the correct site as fraudsters will try to trick individuals by changing some letters or numbers.
DPD notification links should always be either www.dpd.co.uk/ or www.dpdlocal.co.uk/.
A fake text can be identified by the following characteristics:
- Poor language – look out for badly written sentences with spelling and grammatical mistakes
- Lack of a personalisation – you will be addressed as ‘Dear Customer’ or ‘Dear Sir/Madam’
- Obscure links – links in texts that urge you to click on them. You should always double check where it will be sending you to so you know it is legitimate
If you think you’ve received a scam text, do not click on the link.
You should never hand out your personal information if you’re unsure of who you’re communicating with.
Instead you can forward suspicious messages to 7726 for free which will allow your provider to investigate the text and take action it is malicious.
Contact DPD directly if you’re concerned about the whereabouts of your parcel.
I was chuffed after selling my iPhone for £200 on Facebook Marketplace- it was only when I got home that I realised they’d given me fake £50 notes, I feel so stupid
