As the festive shopping season reaches its peak, UK consumers are facing an unprecedented wave of sophisticated delivery fraud that cost victims £11.8 million last Christmas alone.
The Scale of the Problem
The Home Office has joined forces with delivery giant Evri to combat this growing threat, releasing shocking new figures that reveal the extent of the crisis. During last year's Black Friday period, nearly 10,000 delivery fraud cases were reported directly to Evri, with criminals exploiting the massive volume of parcels and consumers' eager anticipation of deliveries.
Lord Hanson, the Fraud Minister, emphasised the urgency: "As the festive shopping season brings excitement and pressure to act swiftly, it is more crucial than ever to protect yourself from potential scams. A message that looks routine could be aimed at taking your hard-earned money. Always remember: Stop! Think Fraud before acting on any delivery message."
How the 'Spray and Pray' Scams Work
Criminals are employing what security experts call the 'spray and pray' method, sending thousands of fraudulent messages daily in the hope that some will reach people genuinely expecting parcels. Lee Howard, Head of Information Security & Information Risk at Evri, explained: "They know sending thousands of messages every day means some are likely to reach people expecting parcels, especially as volumes rise over the festive period."
The scams typically involve convincing phishing messages that appear to come from trusted delivery firms like Evri through text or email. These messages falsely claim a parcel is undeliverable or requires immediate attention, creating a false sense of urgency. Victims are pressured to click malicious links leading to fake websites that replicate official delivery company pages, where they're asked to enter sensitive information or make payments to receive their parcel.
Howard specifically warned about one common tactic: "Lots of these messages try to charge a 'redelivery fee' which is nonsense – we will attempt delivery three times before an item is returned, we will never charge a re-delivery fee."
Government and Industry Response
The government has pledged to work closely with industry to identify and thwart scammers, implementing several protective measures. Lord Hanson revealed: "This government has worked with mobile networks to block more than 1 billion scam text messages and through our strengthened Fraud Strategy we will go even further to protect the public."
This includes blocking spoofed numbers in a crackdown on fraudsters as part of a Telecoms Agreement with leading mobile networks. Meanwhile, Evri has been actively working to disrupt these malicious operations, successfully taking down more than 32,000 scams to date.
Consumers are encouraged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk or forward dubious text messages to 7726 free of charge. With online shopping fraud representing a significant threat during the busiest shopping period of the year, both authorities and companies are urging the public to follow the government's Stop! Think Fraud advice before responding to any unexpected delivery messages.
