‘Tis the season – avoid scam parcel delivery emails!

The Christmas season is always a busy time for fraudsters. During the run up to Christmas, when people are expecting gifts from their friends and loved ones, criminals like to pose as delivery companies and send out emails claiming that a parcel is waiting for them. All the receiver has to do, supposedly, is to pay some customs or insurance fees first.

As an established parcel delivery company, Transglobal Express’ name and brand are sometimes used by scammers to deceive people into sending money, usually to a person pretending to be one of our ‘agents’.

They look so alike. How can you tell which is the real deal?

So how do you know if an email from a courier company is genuine? And what do you do if you think it might be a scam?

Don’t click the links!

The first rule of potentially dodgy emails: don’t click the links or download and open any of the attachments. Website links and file attachments may be malicious, downloading viruses onto your computer or tricking you into submitting sensitive information through a fake website.

Verify their authenticity

If you ever receive a message from a courier company that requests a payment, particularly if you are not expecting a parcel delivery, do not send any payments unless you have verified the authenticity of the email.

To do this, never use the contact details provided in the email. Do a web search for the company and find their official website. For example, Transglobal Express can be found at transglobalexpress.co.uk. We have a contact page that lists our phone numbers and email address. If you contact us, we can verify any orders made through us.

Always do some investigation first.

Be aware that scammers sometimes create their own websites, often with content plagiarised from genuine companies. But official company websites will usually rank higher in web searches than any imposters, and real, reputable companies will also leave a digital footprint; for example, consumer reviews on independent websites like Trustpilot.

Also be aware that email sender addresses can be forged, to make it appear as if they are being sent from an official email address. There are technical ways to find out the real sender, but you may find it easier just to contact the company in question.

Some facts about Transglobal Express

Have you received an email but you’re not sure if it’s from us? Here’s a quick checklist you can use to help you verify:

• Our domains are transglobalexpress.co.uk and transglobalexpress.de.
• We have offices in the UK and Germany only.
• Our phone number is 0345 145 1212. We do not use mobile numbers. See our other contact details.
• We would never request insurance fees from the receiver. These are paid by the sender at the time of booking.
• We are generally not involved with customs fees, with the exception of some of our UPS import (to the UK) services.

Don't let scam artists ruin your Christmas!

You can find further details, with some examples of fraudulent emails, on our fraud page.

Send your parcels with us this Christmas

If you’d like to send some real, genuine parcels to friends, family and customers this Christmas, we can offer you some real, genuine discounted rates for couriers such as UPS, DHL, TNT, DPD and USPS.

See our Christmas page for more information regarding Christmas office hours and final collection dates.