Are you expecting packages before the holidays? Beware of these fraudulent text messages and emails (they can be expensive)

Pampering your loved ones is a real pleasure. Although the crowds in the stores and the headache of choice (or budget) can taint this quest for the ideal gift (including at the last minute), the smile shown by family members or friends is always a pleasure to see at Christmas time. However, we must take some precautions as consumers, particularly with regard to product recalls (whether they concern foie gras or chocolates sold throughout France).

It is also important to pay attention to scams practiced during the holidays to receive a package. Because fraudulent SMS and emails can cost you dearly. Scammers are using their imagination to deceive you, and it is better to be well informed to protect yourself and avoid unpleasant surprises at the end of December 2024. Several sites warn of different methods.

Christmas packages: watch out for SMS and email scams

A few days before Christmas, RMC informs about a parcel scam, which will amount to 169 million sent by the Post Office at the end of the month. If you, like many others, have probably ordered items online, you will not be surprised to receive a well-written message telling you: “Hello, your package could not be delivered, click on this link to provide instructions to the delivery person”. Or, it will be a scam.

According to the government's Cybermalveillance platform, Internet users visiting the page until the end of November were 200 to 400, compared to twice or even three times more since the beginning of December. The site's general manager Jérôme Notin explains that Black Friday and then Christmas are the cause. No communication campaign having been carried out, this increase in the number of visitors is therefore due to a “surge in fraudulent text messages”. How to spot them? It's necessary check the recipient's email address : it could have no link with the carrier. If in doubt, the website of the company responsible for delivering your package will inform you, after you have indicated your package number. If you received an SMS, this is more complex. As a precaution, simply avoid clicking on a transmitted link and go directly to your carrier's website. Do not pay any additional costs either, in particular for shipping costs, which have generally already been paid.

Brushing scam: a fake package scam

The site phoneandroid warns of another scam: that of fake packages. Someone will come to your door and give you a package in your name, with no shipping address listed. Thinking of a surprise, you will find a Bluetooth speaker or a piece of jewelry, accompanied bya paper with a QR Code, which you will scan. However, this is what we call a “brushing scam”. The goal may be to take your personal information to write a positive review about a product or store. They can also be used to hack your online accounts. So do not scan anything and do not keep the product, which may be counterfeit.

The behavior to adopt when faced with a strange email is to check the sender's address, visit the website of the company delivering to you and provide your package number. Never give out your personal information on a site you don't completely trust. In addition to the Cybermalveillance page, you can now do a report on the 17Cyber ​​platformfor victims of digital crimes.

Editor for Aufeminin since 2022, Charlotte is passionate about cinema, French and international, and a fortune reader. Curious about everything, she talks as much about personalities as…