From Cart to Caution: Avoiding Delivery Scams This Holiday Season
The holidays are almost here! For many of us, that means an increase in online shopping. Remember, no matter the time of year, it’s important to make informed decisions when doing business with online retailers or online buyers.
Every year, millions of people become victims of shipping-related scams. Since many reports of these types of scams are made at the beginning of every new year, the FBI (in the U.S.) has identified a strong correlation with the holiday season.
- Non-payment and non-delivery scams cost Americans more than $309 million in 2023.
- From January to May of 2023, parcel delivery scams made up 49% of online scams reported in the United Kingdom—which amounted to nearly 20 million people reporting a parcel delivery scam.
- The India Post delivery scam has been growing since mid-2024. Although specific numbers are not available, reports indicate significant financial losses among a large number of individuals.
Be aware of these scams:
- Non-delivery scams: You pay for goods or services you find online, but you never receive your items. In some cases, false tracking information is given for items bought online, but the parcels never arrive.
- A common tactic, and a hallmark of the India Post delivery scam, is the use of SMS messages that tell victims their package is undeliverable due to an incomplete address. The malicious link that’s included takes the unsuspecting shopper to a fraudulent website that requests personal and financial information, saying it is required so that your parcel can be delivered.
- Gift card fraud: Scammers will ask you to pay with a gift card by providing them with the card number and PIN. The scammer will then steal all the money on that gift card, and you will never receive your item. These can be harder to trace than a basic non-delivery scam because the funds drained from the gift card are much more difficult to trace and recover than funds from your bank account or credit card.
- Illegitimate websites that may or may not actually have goods to sell you, but that use your online purchase to gather your personal information to attempt to steal your identity.
How to protect yourself while shopping online:
- Verify sellers: Check each website’s URL to make sure it’s legitimate and secure. A site you’re buying from should have “https” in the web address.
- Don’t click suspicious links or attachments in emails, on websites, on social media or in SMS text messages.
- Monitor the shipping process using tracking numbers.
- Never wire money directly to a seller.
- Avoid paying with pre-paid gift cards. Use credit cards so statements can be tracked and charges can be disputed if necessary.
