Warning against delivery scams leading up to Christmas from Thames Valley Police
The force say “criminals are seeing this as an excellent time to exploit people”
Thames Valley Police are urging people to remain cautious, stop, and double check any suspicious messages to help prevent falling victim to a delivery scam over the festive period.
As we’re leading up to Christmas more people are buying gifts online and “criminals are seeing this as an excellent time to exploit people”, says Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn.
The force is reminding people to never click unexpected links which could come from a fraudster.
DI Wynn, Head of the Thames Valley Police’s fraud unit said: “It's a time when we're all vulnerable and particularly with potential delivery scams.
“We're all expecting parcels at this time of year, there's a panic to get stuff bought and done before Christmas. So, when that text message drops on your phone saying your parcel has been delayed, it is very natural to quickly respond to that text message.
“But we would appeal for people to check it is the parcel you're expecting before you enter any details into that web portal which is being controlled by criminals”.
What do these scams look like?
“Criminals send thousands upon thousands of text messages and emails in one go, hoping that a single person will respond to it”, says Detective Inspector Wynn.
“A lot of the time they're asking for a very low amount, it might be 99p. So, you think you’ll pay it because obviously it's a small loss to you, but the loss is actually your information.
“You've given them your name, your date of birth, your address and your banking details, which means you're then very vulnerable to further frauds.”
How to help prevent the scam?
DI Wynn says, “the key to it is to stop, think, fraud. Take a second to actually click on the URL, make sure it goes to where you expect it to go.
“Check on the text message, the way it's written and where it's come from.
"If you're unsure at all, then there's our fraud prevention tool kit, and places where you can authenticate the addresses and the numbers then report them as phishing scams”.
Thames Valley Police's Head of fraud also said: “Everybody is vulnerable to this type of fraud, which is makes it so attractive to criminals.
“Even colleagues of my own have been victim to this kind of fraud because, again, in that panic moment when you're trying to get something done really quickly, you're not thinking clearly. So, it’s about stop, think, fraud.”
The force is also encouraging people to avoid bank transfers as they offer the least protection if something goes wrong. Instead, use a credit card or secure payment platform. Credit cards give you extra protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act
Other useful tip include turning on 2-step verification (2SV) as a simple way to stop fraudsters in their tracks.
If you've come across a potential scam you can forward phishing emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and forward texts to 7726.