Katherine Hart, of the Trading Standards, said: “People are much more nervous about the cost of living and it is likely that a call out of the blue alleging suspicious activity and additional charges are likely to worry most people.
“These criminals rely on our fears and anxiety and are always quick to exploit it. We need to be suspicious and be very wary about passing on details.”
Ms Hart said often fraudsters already had some personal details, perhaps from a previous scam such as a fake delivery text, which helped convince the victim their call was legitimate.
The rise in online shopping has fuelled a surge in delivery and parcel scams, which first spread when lockdowns forced people to shop from home. But the trend has continued as the cost of living crisis intensifies, with Trading Standards reporting a “huge rise” in the fraud. A million scam texts are now sent every week.
Reports of “smishing”, where criminals use text messages to target victims, surged by more than a third between the end of last year and the first three months of 2022, according to cybersecurity company Proofpoint.
Delivery and parcel fraud make up 57pc of all scam texts in the UK, much higher than the global share of 30pc.
Ms Hart added: “Because the likes of Amazon and Netflix are used by lots of different age groups, everyone is a target. My own teenagers have received phone calls purporting to be from Amazon Prime, which makes them just as vulnerable as anyone else.”
Amazon said:…
