Fake Evri text scam phishes for bank details
The fake Evri text message asks the recipient to click a link to pay a £1.45 shipping fee, handing over their bank details to the fraudsters.
Find out how to spot, avoid and report this scam.
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Evri delivery text scam
The message appears to come from an unrecognised number, but claims to be from Evri. It asks the recipient to visit [evri-delivery-fees.com] to pay a £1.45 shipping fee. It claims that the recipient’s parcel will be returned to the sender if the fee isn’t paid.
One victim of this scam, who has asked to remain anonymous, told us that she received the text while she was waiting for a parcel from Evri and unfortunately entered her bank details (account number, sort code and CVC) into a form on the link provided. She quickly noticed a suspicious transaction to an online takeaway and contacted her bank, Barclays, which cancelled the transaction.
While the scammers are likely to be mass targeting victims, we’ve heard of a few fake Evri messages that have been received either soon after a delivery or while waiting for one, increasing the risk of falling foul of one of these texts.
On Reddit, others have pointed out that they’ve received suspicious texts claiming to be from Evri in recent weeks containing links to [evri-parcelredelivery], [evri-mydelivery] and [evri-missed-parcel].
When we contacted Evri about scammers impersonating its brand, it said: 'We’re aware of smishing attempts claiming to be Evri, where individuals receive a text message including a link to pay for parcel delivery. We would never ask for payment in this way.
'Our decision to be part of the MEF registry is under review as we are currently partnered with Netcraft, who are the world's largest provider of takedowns and cybercrime disruption services, to help protect our customers.'
The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) registry is an SMS SenderID Protection Registry that allows companies to protect their numbers to prevent number spoofing.
How to spot a scam like this Evri one
This scam gains the victim's trust by using personal details to impersonate banks and steal large amounts of money.
The first telltale sign of a scam is the unknown number. Although scammers can spoof companies’ numbers, making it difficult to tell if texts from well-known companies are authentic, a text from an unknown number can’t be trusted.
The second obvious sign is asking for money. Companies won’t contact you asking for additional money for products and services you’ve already paid for. In the case of the Evri text scam victim, they were already waiting for a delivery they’d paid for.
Lastly, asking for personal banking information via text is a clear indication of an attempt to steal your money. If in doubt, check the brand’s delivery process on its official website and contact them directly using an official customer number (found on its website) to verify the authenticity of the message.
What to do if you receive a scam text
If you do receive suspicious texts like these, don’t click on the link provided. Instead, report the message to the free scam reporting service at 7726 and block the number.
If you have clicked on a suspicious link and think you may have given your details away to a scam, you should contact your bank immediately and report the scam to Action Fraud, or the police if you live in Scotland.
Read our guide to find out how to spot a text scam, and learn how to report scams to help reduce their spread.
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