How to Avoid Parcel Delivery Scams?

A parcel scam is a fraudulent activity that involves scammers contacting people by sending emails or a text message about delivering packages to their addresses. In some cases, fraudsters make fake delivery attempts by posing as delivery agents by asking for personal information and making payments.

The fraudster contacts a potential victim via phone, email, or SMS message. claiming to be an agent of shipping companies like FedEx, UPS, or USPS and asking to verify private information and credit card details. Email or SMS messages typically include a tracking link with texts, emails, and landing pages appearing to be the shipper’s official site and looking as legitimate as possible.

What Are Some Warning Signs of Package Scams?

Here are some warning signs that consumers need to be aware of concerning parcel scams to avoid falling prey to them.

• Receiving unsolicited emails and text messages from unspecified email addresses and numbers.
• Too good to be true claims that you have won big rewards or large sums of money.
• Requests for overpayment or refund of overpayment. Watch out for deceptive tactics such as coaxing victims into paying more than required and then offer a refund for the excess amount and vanish after pocketing the payment.
• Grammatical and spelling errors or typos. Look out for silly spelling and grammatical mistakes in delivery messages and also for unusual capitalizations and incorrect punctuation.

How Can You Identify Delivery Scams?

It is important to know and understand some of the main “red flags” of potential delivery scams.

A few examples of parcel delivery scams are:

• Asking for a fee to be paid to get your package with an urgency indicating that parcels will be sent back or to a depot if you refuse to pay.
• Asking to enter your personal and payment details, failing which the package will be returned, as the address was incorrect.
•  Asking you to schedule redelivery since you were unavailable during an attempted package delivery.

It is essential to verify the identity and legitimacy of the sender to avoid shipping scams. Adapting to best practices and taking some extra steps can reduce the risk and other harmful consequences of delivery scams.

Best Practices to Avoid Courier Scams

Consumers can protect themselves from shipping scams and shop safely online by being careful and taking action. Staying vigilant and watching out for warning signs can prove to be helpful in this regard.

• Verify and research company testimonials and reviews - Going through the company’s website to try and find out any complaints or negative reviews and the quality of the official website can tell you if the courier service is authentic or not.
• Watch out for texts, calls, or emails about a missed delivery -Keep track of what you have ordered online to understand what is expected to come and when. Avoid clicking on links if you receive a notice regarding missed delivery, make sure it is authentic, and only then follow instructions to go ahead.
• Resist the pressure to act immediately- Recognize the fact that anyone who pressurizes you to act in urgency for payment or to get out your personal information is a scammer.
• Take precautions to ensure safe delivery- Always get tracking numbers for your purchases and check the shipping progress periodically. Make use of package receiving services to receive your packages in a secure environment to avoid letting them sit outside doorsteps as potential targets for porch pirates.

Resisting temptations that come in various forms, from discounted shipping fees to fast delivery schedules along with keeping one’s personal and financial information private can go a long way to avoiding becoming a victim to package delivery scams.

The problem of stolen packages, however, is still a stark reality. Consumers are still faced with recurrent instances related to USPS missing packages, Amazon stolen packages, UPS lost packages, and FedEx stolen packages.

Package acceptance services by Stowfly can help you completely avoid missed packages and package theft. A chain of trusted shops and stores in your neighborhood acts as your secondary delivery address to receive packages on your behalf.

Your parcels are safely taken care of once they are received at a Stowfly package storage location for rentals starting as low as $4 per package from where you can pick them up whenever you wish.

More information about package receiving and package acceptance services in NYC can be found here.