Post Office scam: Bogus failed parcel delivery texts sent to public

Posted 24/06/21

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has uncovered evidence of a new Post Office scam that claims that the recipient's parcel delivery failed and returned to a Post Office depot. 

The text contains a link to a fake website created to look exactly like an official Post Office platform. The website asks the target to enter their postcode and personal details supposedly to identify their closest depot and reorganise the delivery. The information requested includes the full name, address, date of birth and phone number. The information provided is sent directly to scammers who might use the information to commit many different kinds of identity fraud.

CTSI understands that someone who put their details into the bogus Post Office website lost £80,000 after fraudsters were able to pass their bank's security checks by using the personal information the victim provided on the phoney Post Office website form. 

These Post Office scam messages come after a series of related delivery scams which use Royal Mail, DPD, Hermes and other delivery company branding. CTSI is raising awareness of this scam during Scams Awareness Fortnight, an annual public information campaign led by Citizens Advice.

CTSI Lead Officer, Katherine Hart, said: "This Post Office scam is far more insidious than a similar scam which involved Royal Mail. While the Royal Mail scam explicitly asks for a payment to reorganise a delivery, at no point does this happen in this Post Office version making the communication less suspect and potentially more likely to be successful. Scammers could use the information to gain access to bank accounts and other important personal accounts.  

"With the pandemic leading to a significant rise in online shopping and deliveries, it is vital that the message about the potential dangers of these scams are shared as far and as wide as possible, especially during this Scams Awareness Fortnight."

To report scams, contact Action Fraud, or if in Scotland, contact Police Scotland. 

For consumer advice, please call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133

The public is encouraged to join Friends Against Scams. This initiative aims to protect and prevent people from becoming scam victims by empowering them to stand against scams.

 

ENDS

Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI)

CTSI is a training and membership organisation that has represented the interests of the Trading Standards profession since 1881 nationally and internationally. We aim to raise the profile of the profession while working towards fairer, better informed and safer consumer and business communities. CTSI's members are engaged in delivering frontline trading standards services in local authorities and in businesses. www.tradingstandards.uk

 

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