Social media posts circulating in Ireland highlighting a new scam involving criminals dropping fake missed delivery cards from DHL through letter boxes are themselves untrue, the company has confirmed.
The posts started being widely shared on Facebook and WhatApp on Wednesday and suggested that legitimate-looking missed delivery cards actually contained bogus QR codes linked to fake DHL websites and were being posted through letter boxes in the Dublin area.
In an initial statement, DHL said it was “aware of social media and WhatsApp messages raising concerns about the legitimacy of certain delivery slips purportedly left by DHL couriers”.
It confirmed that its official couriers in Ireland do leave “not home” cards when no one is available to accept a delivery and the cards do include a QR code that takes recipients to the official website were they can reschedule deliveries.
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In an alert posted on its social media channels it said if people were “redirected to any other website or if the card does not match our official format, we advise against interacting with it”.
However, when The Irish Times asked for further clarification from DHL about the veracity of the social media reports and noted that claims that exactly the same scam were circulating in India at exactly the same time, the company issued an update.
“The delivery slip or “we called” card in question has been confirmed as a valid DHL Express card from Singapore,” a spokeswoman said. “At this time, DHL Express Ireland has not received any evidence – physical or digital – of scam delivery cards circulating.”
She said that all the examples shared with the company “have been verified as legitimate delivery cards. Our colleagues at DHL Express Singapore have confirmed they recently used this type of card for a delivery that was unrelated to Ireland. Furthermore, we have thoroughly reviewed the QR codes on these cards, and they consistently lead to the legitimate DHL Express self-service portal for scheduling re-deliveries.”
The spokeswoman said that “based on our investigations, it seems there is no scam involving these cards but rather misinformation spreading on social media and WhatsApp groups, likely with good intentions but no factual basis.”
She said the company had “no information as to the origins of the message, but we are continuing to investigate”.
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