Evri warning over dangerous parcel text which could lose you thousands | Personal Finance | Finance
The “convincing” scam comes in the form of a text which claims to be from Evri – the delivery company which has recently changed its name from Hermes. Fraud experts have highlighted a text message asking for around £1.45 to have a parcel delivery – which may seem innocuous as it is a small fee.
However, this could well be a precursor to a person handing over valuable personal information, which could be devastating for their finances.
Ryan Beeley, a solicitor and fraud expert manager at CEL Solicitors, warned of the dangers of this kind of scam.
He said: “The text from Evri can look very convincing and believable, especially since £1.45 isn’t a lot of money.
“Usually we associate scams with large sums of money being requested or demanded.
READ MORE: State pension triple lock is ‘ripe for chopping block’
“But applying pressure by using the word ‘now’ and the consequence of not doing so is a typical scammer technique.
“Many scams apply pressure to ‘act now’ and rush victims to click links without giving the messaging its due diligence.“
Sadly, once a person has been scammed once, they are likely to fall victim again.
This is because scammers can add a person’s name and details to what is commonly known as a “sucker’s list”.
The list details those who have fallen victim to scams previously, identifying them to other scammers as gullible and easy to target.
Some devious fraudsters may even contact a person who has previously been targeted, claiming they can help recover funds, but ask for an upfront fee.
Consequently, it is vital Britons remain on their guard for these scams in order to protect themselves.
Individuals should never click the links on text messages which are received out of the blue.
Often, scammers do not know if the number they are contacting is actually active – so these texts should never be responded to.
Legitimate organisations rarely make spelling errors in the communications they send, and so many errors can be a red flag for a scam.
People should never disclose their PIN, banking password or login details to anyone as no real company will ask for this information.
If in doubt, individuals should use a telephone number from the official website they are able to source themselves.
