Evri, the UK’s largest dedicated parcel company, has issued a warning to everyone using its service.
The company has issued an updated warning about scammers trying to profit off of Evri customers.
The renewed guidance on phishing messages, which affects thousands of consumers across the UK each month, has been issued ahead of CYBERUK - the UK government’s flagship cyber security event.
The company has revealed a 174% increase in reported scams from April 2023 to April 2024 whilst it has successfully closed down more than 5,000 scam sites in the last year.
Phishing is when criminals use scam emails and text messages to trick victims. The aim is often to make consumers visit a website, which may steal bank details or other personal information.
They will often pretend to be an organisation you trust. These tactics can be very convincing and often use genuine-looking branding and messaging.
Evri recommends looking out for poor language, a lack of personal greet and unusual links included in the messages.
Richa Bhuttar, Chief Information Security Officer at Evri, said: “These criminals use the ‘spray and pray’ method, taking advantage of the millions of parcels we deliver to households every day.
“They know sending thousands of messages every day means some of them are likely to reach some people expecting a parcel.
“Lots of these messages try to charge a ‘redelivery fee’ which is nonsense – we will attempt delivery three times before an item is returned and there is no charge.
“Gmail and Hotmail have pretty much got it nailed in terms of diverting phishing emails to quarantine folders whereas smaller mail providers seem to be less effective because their maturity is not at the same level.”
Anyone who receives a suspicious message claiming to be from Evri should report it to evri.com/cybersecurity.
Consumers should also report any other suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Text messages should also be reported by forwarding to 7226, which is free.
If you think you have been a victim of a scam you should talk to your bank or card provider immediately, and report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
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