Consumer champion Which? has said it is “one of the most convincing clone websites” they’ve seen.
In 2021 more than 2,000 reports of delivery scam texts were recorded to Which? via the scam sharer tool.
The new fake texts ask customers to book a redelivery slot using a website that is cloned from the actual Post Office website, meaning it looks extremely legitimate.
The first step of the scam asks customers to enter personal information such as postcode, name, date of birth and mobile number.
This information could easily be used to commit identity fraud.
It then asks for card details to pay a ‘redelivery charge’ of £1.10 and this information can be used to attempt to steal money from the account.
Adding to the legitimacy, the website confirms the redelivery request has been ‘processed successfully and shows the new date.
A Post Office spokesperson said:
Scammers use our name, but Post Office never delivers letters and parcels. This is the job of Royal Mail.
Once we become aware of a fake Post Office website, we pass this information over to our digital enforcement partner. If there is a live website displaying our brand, we can submit a request for ‘takedown’ with the domain registrar that the URL is registered with.
In a lot of these cases, these websites are only live for a matter of days – mainly because once people start reporting a web URL to 7726, the site becomes untrustworthy. Web browsers will also start flagging whether a site could be a phishing site and start blocking attempts for people to access them.
This combination of reporting and network / device-based checks will intervene. These sites are then usually taken down fairly quickly. However, in our experience, once one site is taken down, another appears.
From our data we’re aware of over 1,000 domain names that we suspect or know have been set up to be used in delivery phishing scams in the last nine months alone.
What to do if you receive a similar scam text
The Post Office is asking people to forward any suspicious texts to Cyber Protext, run by the police.
Scam texts can be forwarded to 7726 to be investigated.
If you receive a suspicious text message like this, report it by forwarding the message to 7726 📱👮 @CyberProtectUK #CyberProtect pic.twitter.com/Reoonuh8dv
— Post Office (@PostOffice) January 13, 2022
What to do if you have been scammed
A survey carried out by Which? found that three in five people have been targeted by scam delivery texts.
If you think you have been scammed and given any personal bank details to scammers, contact your bank at the earliest opportunity.
Banks have until the end of the next business day to refund any unauthorised transactions unless they believe you authorised the payment or acted fraudulently.
