“Hello, it’s the delivery guy”: be careful of these well-crafted SMS messages, which are only intended to scam you

The phenomenon of messages (SMS) from fake parcel deliverers claiming that the cardboard does not fit in your mailbox is gaining momentum. It is important to protect yourself from them, and to report them.

For several months, there has been a trend which, with the explosion of online shopping, can claim many victims: the fake delivery scam. In recent weeks, and you may have experienced this too, I have received several text messages asking me to provide a new delivery slot, because my so-called package did not fit in my mailbox. Obviously, the sole purpose of this scheme is to scam us.

A fraudulent SMS that uses all the delivery keywords

Here is the message received on a Wednesday at 4:35 p.m.: “ Hello, it’s the delivery man, your package did not fit in the mailbox. Please choose a new slot on… “. And there follows a URL on which three very important keywords appear: “instructions”, “info”, “monitoring”. Words meant to give us confidence, all linked to the jargon of package delivery.

Obviously, this SMS is a pure scam, and several clues show us this. First, there’s this URL, as a first alert. No known brand names, companies or delivery services are listed. Then, sending via a mobile phone number: even if some services use it, it is not a very secure aspect.

Finally, it is very likely that your mobile will directly identify this SMS as spam. My Pixel phone, running Android 14, identified it as such. Not to mention that I didn’t receive any phone calls and that day, I wasn’t expecting an order. As you will have understood, we are typically faced with an SMS which has only one purpose: to send you to a website to collect your personal data, your banking information and to scam you.

Better to report all fraudulent SMS received, to inform as many users as possible

If you dismissed the message, that’s good and you made the right choice. But I want to make you aware today of doing your duty as a citizen. No moral lesson obviously, everyone is free, but I am thinking of certain loved ones who, not aware like you and me and cyber risk, could fall into the trap.

In the case of a fraudulent SMS, the best thing to do is to report it via 33700, more specifically the website 33700.fr. The site does not require any registration or personal data, other than your telephone number. Useful clarification: this is collected on the legal basis of legitimate interest, to be able to collect the report, transfer it to your telecom operator and process it.

I reported the message directly from the phone. And indeed, the process is quite quick, since you just need to provide the screenshot of the SMS, and send it. My good deed of the day.