Warning over 'DPD' scam text - here's what to do if you receive a fake delivery tracking message

What you need to know about the scam text (Photo: Shutterstock)

Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, shoppers across the country became more dependent on parcel delivery services such as Royal Mail, DPD and Hermes while we stayed indoors.

However, this change in shopping behaviour has resulted in a new wave of scams thought up by criminals, with the latest warnings advising shoppers to be wary of fake delivery emails and texts from DPD.

Action Fraud says that by December 2020, £242k was lost to fake DPD emails and texts.

This is what you need to know.

What’s the scam?

The scam entails sending a text that claims that DPD attempted to deliver a package to you, but was unable - and there therefore is an outstanding fee to pay for arranging a redelivery.

The message then usually contains a link that instructs victims on how to set up a redelivery for their parcel, and how to pay the outstanding fee.

If you go ahead and make the payment, you’ll then receive a phone call a few days later from someone claiming to be from your bank to inform you of suspicious transactions on your account.

Criminals undertaking this scam are able to use something called “spoofing” to make it seem like the text or phone call is genuinely coming from the bank.

The victim is then told that their bank account could be compromised, and are instructed to transfer their money into what they think is a secure alternative account to prevent further loss.

However, in reality, the victim has transferred their money into an account which is under the fraudsters control.

In some cases, criminals are able to gain enough personal information and security details during the phone call with the unsuspecting victim that they are actually able to take out a loan in the victim's name - and then, again, transfer the loan to an account that they control.