Consumers urged to be wary of parcel delivery scams ahead of Christmas

Consumers have been warned to be wary of clicking on potentially fraudulent messages and emails regarding parcel deliveries in the run-up to Christmas.

A Garda spokesman said there has been a spate of reports recently of people being fooled into following links in text messages or emails purporting to be from An Post concerning an upcoming delivery.

Victims are then asked to enter their personal details which are used by the scammers to defraud them or withdraw money from their accounts.

The Garda said it has received “numerous reports” of the scam, in which the texts or emails appear to be from An Post and state the person’s parcel is awaiting delivery. The person is then asked to click a link to a legitimate looking website to confirm the delivery of the package or pay a fee.

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The force also advised members of the public to be on the lookout for similar scams in the days and weeks ahead.

It said people should never click on links in an unsolicited text or email and never give away personal information such as PIN and bank card numbers or passwords, Furthermore, people are advised not to respond to such messages but instead take a screenshot, delete the message and report the matter to their local garda station.

‘Obvious time’

Bank of Ireland has also warned it is getting increasing numbers of complaints about parcel delivery frauds.

“The middle of the busiest shopping period of the year is an obvious time for fraudsters to target consumers,” said Edel McDermott, Bank of Ireland’s head of fraud.

“People may be distracted and have less available time to stop, think and check the details on a text and simply reply automatically to a company they recognise.”

The rise of online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in various types of online frauds targeting consumers, including phishing attempts relating to parcel deliveries.

A similar scam, which began last month, involved people receiving a message which appeared to be from the parcel delivery company UPS, telling recipients they must pay a “customs fee” to receive their delivery.