If you have had suspicious looking texts about deliveries, you are not alone. There is very little you can do to stop them from pinging into your phone, but you can avoid becoming a victim.

What are they looking for?

There are a number of issues that may occur from responding to these delivery text scam messages. They might be looking for your card details – generally these texts will tell you that you have a ‘fee’ to pay before the delivery can occur. Or these texts will be hoping you click onto a link which will then load a virus on to your phone.

Tips to avoid becoming a victim of delivery scam texts

You can prevent any issues of fraud or ransomware occurring from a fake delivery message and we have some tips to help you do that –

• Always treat any texts from delivery providers as suspicious until proven different.
• Take note – as you make orders online or over the phone, take note. Write down when you will expect delivery, this will save you second guessing yourself when you receive a text you were not expecting
• Scan the link – if you have identified that this might actually be for a package you are expecting, before clicking on any links ‘check’ them. Copy the link and paste it into a link scanner like VirusTotal to find out if it is legit or not.
• Do your research – as these spam texts are becoming common place, there is plenty of advice from delivery/postal providers via their websites on how to recognise a text from them. For example, An Post have a dedicated Security Hub where customers can find information on those ‘extra payment’ texts and ‘redirected delivery’ messages
• Other providers have similar information on their sites including DHL, DPD and Fastway
• If you are worried that you may have clicked on a dodgy link but are not sure, we recommend that you contact your phone network provider and your bank to give you peace of mind. Banks usually have dedicated customer support teams to assist with online fraud and scam situations.
• If you think you may have been a victim of a Delivery Text Scam and have provided or are asked to provide money, personal information and/or financial information report it to the Garda.

Malicious actors are always looking to gain access information. Using unsuspecting victims can be an effective approach – like text message scams. In a corporate context, the same risks apply. Employees are an asset to help defend your information, systems and infrastructure. Individuals can be tricked into providing access to sensitive information or critical systems. Contact Cycubix to discuss how Security Awareness training can help you increase cybersecurity awareness and give employees the practical skills needed to identify a potential attack and the knowledge to protect sensitive information.