Brits are falling for a brazen new scam that sees fraudsters dress as DPD workers and intercept packages they didn’t order to their front door.
Scores of people have reported witnessing the technique, which appears to involve grifters using one person’s bank details to order items to the address of another innocent party.
Once the goods are delivered, the fraudsters, dressed in clothes featuring the DPD logo, then try and intercept the package, hoping the householder will oblige and give it back, as they didn’t make the order themselves.
If the fraudulent use of bank details for the purchase is reported, the idea is that it would then be traced back to the innocent recipient, not the criminals, as it was ordered in their name to their address.
HAVE YOU BEEN AFFECTED BY THE SCAM? Email [email protected]
The practice was outlined in a video on TikTok, which has been viewed some 250,000 times, with more than 300 comments, many of which involve people having come across the scam themselves.
Outlining the con, @shonelise, says: ‘I was chatting to my best friend on the phone the other day and her doorbell went so she had to go and get it, it was a parcel for her dad, it had her dad’s name on it, there was nothing suspicious about it at all.
‘Her dad was at work and she was working from home so she picked it up, took it in, didn’t think anything of it.’
The parcel, she said, was delivered by DPD, before the doorbell went again moments later and another ‘DPD driver’ told her how it was delivered by mistake and needed to go back to Sky.
Her friend declined as it clearly had the address on the package and said the family would contact Sky themselves to sort it out, at which point the ‘DPD driver’ stormed off.
Inside the package was an iPhone 14 with a Sky sim card, which her father later confirmed he hadn’t ordered.
‘Someone had obviously taken out a contract or paid upfront for the phone and had it delivered to their address,’ the TikToker said.
‘So fast forward, her dad comes home, he rings Sky to be like, “this phone’s been delivered, I didn’t order it so can you look into it? Someone’s obviously fraudulently used my details”.
‘So, they looked into it and lo and behold, the account that the phone was ordered from, there was actually two phones that had been ordered and one had been delivered the Friday previous and nobody was home at that time.
‘It said on their system that someone had intercepted the delivery on their driveway.
A woman has taken to TikTok to warn people of a new ‘clever’ scam that her best friend was a victim of
The video by @shonelise which explains what happened, has been seen by over 213,000 people in less than a week, with more than 200 comments – a lot of which are people saying they have also experienced the fraudsters technique
‘So someone was obviously waiting at her front door to collect this parcel and because they got lucky that time, they thought oh let me do it again.
‘But this time they obviously weren’t tracking the delivery properly because they were too late and he had a Plan B obviously and had a f****** DPD t-shirt on to pretend that he was also working for DPD and trying to take the parcel back.’
Some viewers were confused by the scam, so the TikToker explained in the comments: ‘Each time they do it they are obviously using the bank details they have stolen from one person and the name/address of another person.
‘They then use the stolen bank details to fraudulently order phones or whatever to the other persons address and intercept the delivery before it’s handed to the resident.
‘They’ve then got a new phone and if the fraudulent use of bank details is reported’
‘It will be traced back to you, not them (as they have ordered it in your name to your address) and they walk away Scott free.’
Other commenters said they had a similar experience, with one writing ‘Omg this happened to my dad!! 2 phones and 2 Apple Watches. Except the person who did it made sure they were outside our house for the delivery!!!’
Another warned ‘This happened to my dad years ago! We think the culprit found an old little woods catalog in our wheelie bin! Be careful what you throw away!’
Meanwhile, someone else added ‘Omg this happened to me with eBay a few years ago!! They tried to buy 2 of them electronic hoovers at like £200 each but used my card and address.’
One commenter who claims she works in a phone shop chimed in with ‘this is happening wayyy to often now it’s insane! Seen this twice in the last month’.
Another added ‘I work at head office for a massive telecoms company. we see this all the time and it usually gets worse around this time of year.’
DPD has been approached for comment.
It comes after Brits were warned about scams involving fake parcel delivery texts if they order gifts online during the festive period.
Roughly four in five of all fraud cases that start with a text message are from scammers imitating delivery firms Royal Mail, DPD and Hermes, according to TSB.
The bank is predicting a surge in these tactics as customers turn to online shopping for their last-minute Christmas gifts.
How to tell if your text message is a scam
These scams typically start when a shopper receives a fake delivery text, often saying that they need to pay a shipping fee for their parcel to be delivered.
Shipping fees on products coming from abroad have become more common since the UK left the European Union, so many customers will be duped into thinking the request is legitimate.
They will be asked to input personal information, which then goes straight to the criminals.
At a later date, the fraudsters will then call them out of the blue claiming to be from a bank’s fraud department.
They will often appear to very convincing, as they will use the information they already have on the individual.
The scammer will usually claim that the person’s account is under attack, and they must quickly transfer money to a ‘safe account’ which will be an account held in the fraudster’s name.
Fake: The majority of delivery fraud cases that start with a text message are from scammers imitating Royal Mail, DPD and Hermes, according to TSB’s research
These so-called safe account scams are rife across the banking sector and make up one in five of all fraud losses, according to UK Finance. The average loss per customer is £4,500.
TSB claims it has refunded 97 per cent of customers that have been on the receiving end of these types of scams.
One such case saw a customer refunded more than £7,000, after they fell victim to a scam text impersonating Royal Mail.
As she was waiting for a real parcel from , the customer thought it was genuine and followed the link to complete the form.
Four days later she received a call from a fraudster who had detailed information on the customer and was able to target her with a convincing safe account scam.
Another customer was defrauded in a similar fashion following a scam text that claimed to be from the courier Hermes.
The message claimed she needed to pay £1.27 for her parcel to be delivered.
Having completed the fraudulent form, she was then targeted with a cold call in the following days, losing almost £4,000.
Other scams to watch out for this Christmas
Scammers may also cold call pretending to be from a company that you might have dealt with recently.
TSB’s research revealed that cold callers purporting to be from Amazon and BT are among the most common, with the average loss being £6,700 and £4,900 per victim respectively.
Virgin Media, HMRC and Microsoft are also common targets, with average losses ranging between £1,400 and £3,200 per victim.
Scam texts are sent to harvest sensitive information from victims. Fraudsters then use this to target them with convincing ‘safe account’ cold-calls at a later date
Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, said: ‘Fraudsters are changing their methods all the time.
‘Clicking on a link in an SMS might seem like a small act, but it could be the beginning of your life savings being stolen from you.
‘It’s important to remain on guard. Never input personal details into an SMS link, and certainly not your card details.
‘Spread the word – don’t let a fraudster ruin your Christmas.’
How to avoid losing money to fraud
Scammers take advantage of certain emotions, and anyone is capable of falling foul of one if they are caught in the wrong place, at a difficult time or in a negative mood.
Any unsuspecting victim caught at the wrong time or in the wrong headspace can fall for one of these scams
A moment of panic, absent mindedness, temptation or stress could prove costly.
It can become even more easy to fall prey to a scammer when it seems like you are receiving a text message from a delivery company you may be expecting to hear from.
As well as exercising extreme caution about any text message or email from a delivery company, it is best to assume the worst and to avoid clicking on any links or sharing any personal information in response to a text message.
If you are expecting a parcel, only ever interact with the delivery company via their official app, or by finding their website yourself using an internet search engine.
If you receive a call out of the blue, then the advice is to hang up and call the organisation back via its official number.