Receiving a package can be exciting, especially if you’ve forgotten all about it. Unfortunately, scammers know this and send you fake shipping texts to trick you into submitting your personal information as part of a fake shipping text scam.
What is a fake shipping text
The purpose of a fake shipping text is to mimic the legitimate messages that courier services send to their customers when their package is on the way. If you’ve ever received a text from a delivery company saying they’ve received your package as well as a tracking link, these are the messages that scammers are trying to mimic.
The main goal of scammers is to acquire your personal information. Sometimes, they’re satisfied with just your personal information, but other times, they’ll try to trick you into submitting your credit card information. As such, learning how to recognize a fake shipping text is a good way to keep your data safe.
What does a fake shipping text look like
So, how do you recognize a fake shipping text? Luckily, there are plenty of ways to identify them.
Check out my two screenshots above; the first is a real text message I received for a package I ordered, and the second is a fake one. Let’s separate these images to see why the second one seems to be a scam.
You didn’t actually order anything
This is a clear sign. If you get a text telling you your package is on the way, but you didn’t order anything online, there’s a good chance it’s a scam. It might be worth doing a little investigating to see if it’s a legitimate package, but someone entered your number instead of their own, or maybe it’s a package you forgot to order. However, in 99% of cases, it’s just a scam.
Your phone claims it’s a scam
One big difference between the two screenshots is that the warning claims the fake text message is a scam. While these scam checkers are never right, they are right most of the time. If you see this dialog box, be suspicious of everything in the text message.
The text comes from a random number
When you get a text from a legitimate business, it usually shows the name of the company instead of the number they used to contact you (known as caller ID). In the images above, Yodel’s name appears where a phone number usually is.
If you get a text message that claims to be from a well-known company, but it seems to be coming from a random number, use caution.
The text message has typos and weird grammar
Take a look at the content of the text message. Does it sound like something the company would send you? Does the text flow properly with correct grammar? Or does it have typos and weird sentences that seem off in some way? If it’s the latter, it’s probably a scam.
Note that the first message in the screenshot above reads professionally, but the second one looks a little “weird”. This is a good sign that you’re dealing with a scammer.
The link doesn’t seem legitimate
In the screenshot above, you can see that the Yodel text gives me a Yodel-based URL to click on, while the fake Royal Mail one uses a link-shortening service to hide the URL. Some legitimate businesses will use link-shortening services too, so this isn’t a surefire way to distinguish real text from scam texts. However, once you click the link, you can check the URL you’re directed to. If the URL looks suspicious, it’s a scam.
The website doesn’t have a tracking number
When a legitimate service texts you about your shipment, it usually has a real tracking number that you can cross-reference. Fake websites usually don’t show tracking numbers, which is a big red flag. If they show one, they’re probably fake.
In the images above, Yodel’s URL included a tracking number, whereas the Royal Mail one didn’t, which was a big hint.
What to do if you’re not sure about a shipping text
If you’ve received a text about a package but you’re not sure if it’s real, look for a tracking number. If you get one, close the text message, open a new browser and go to the courier service’s official website. Enter the tracking number there and see if anything arrives; if nothing arrives or there’s no tracking number in the text message, you’ve probably been scammed.
If you’re still suspicious, it’s worth contacting the courier’s customer support service and giving them the details of the text message. They’ll be able to tell you if the message you’ve received is a scam.
It’s great to get a package, but it’s not great at all to get a shipping text that says it’s a scam. Fortunately, if you use your brain to analyze the text before clicking on a link, you will be safe from these scams.