Massive increase in DPD and Royal Mail parcel delivery scams

The number of scammers impersonating parcel delivery companies such as DPD and Royal Mail has soared in the past 12 months, according to analysis by payment provider Dojo.

The company measured the increase in Google searches for terms such as “Royal Mail scam”, and found a huge increase in 2020 compared to the year before.

PayPal topped the list of search queries, with 65,470 searches. Amazon followed at 42,120, with DPD in third place at 32,970. The DVLA, Apple and Royal Mail had the fourth, fifth and sixth highest search volumes.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national centre for reporting fraud and cybercrime, said there were 5,478 reports of suspicious DPD emails in November, entering into peak parcel season. This was a 655% increase on the month before.

According to Dojo, fraudsters are making the most of the technological shift that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people making online purchases, especially those who are less tech-savvy.

Source: The Argus

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Unfortunately, we’re not immune to impersonation by fraudsters either. Scammers create fake websites, fake emails and fake texts and often use company assets, such as text and images, that they have lifted from our site.

For more help on identifying fraud, please see our fraud information page. We also have a report page where we list the scams you’ve let us know about, in the hope that those relying on Google will get the warning first.

If you’re unsure, always go straight to the official source. See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Header image: Christin Hume