Criminals flood UK phones with ‘spray and pay’ as festive fraud surges

Government agencies, telecoms providers and parcel firms have issued warnings as fraudulent activity reaches record levels during the festive shopping season.

Scammers are exploiting the confusion created by multiple online orders, relying on recipients losing track of what they are expecting to receive.

Courier firm Evri has recorded 10,000 cases of delivery-related fraud between November 2024 and January 2025.

The figures highlight the scale of criminal activity targeting shoppers during the busiest parcel period of the year.

The tactic, known as "spray and pay", sees criminals send thousands of text messages every day.

They hope that by saturating mobile networks they will reach genuine parcel recipients among the mass distribution.

These messages often claim a delivery problem and direct victims to imitation courier websites.

Virgin Media O2 has identified several common examples used by fraudsters.

One message reads: "Sorry! for the inconvenience but there seem's to be a problem with your parcel. Please visit: (the name of the scam site) to resolve this. Thanks!"

Another variant states: "When our driver attempted to deliver today, nobody was present. Visit (the name of the scam site) to track and reschedule delivery".

A third message says: "Your package is waiting at your local depot. To arrange a delivery date, go to (the name of the scam site)".

Fraud prevention specialists say the texts deliberately omit personal details but create a false sense of urgency.

The aim is to push victims into clicking the link without checking its authenticity.

Consumers who follow the links are taken to convincing copies of courier websites.

There they are urged to pay small fees of one or two pounds to rebook delivery.

Criminal groups then harvest payment details and any other personal information provided.

Murray Mackenzie, Virgin Media O2's director of fraud prevention, said the goal is always to extract valuable data.

He said: "The best-case scenario from a fraudster is you share payment information.

Their goal here is to monetise what you provide to them".

Mr Mackenzie warned that any details entered into the fake site can later be misused.

He said: "You might provide an email address and a password for a login to a delivery site and that allows them to redirect future parcels.

It may be that they just obtain your email address and phone number through a contact form and then that makes you susceptible to future scams".

Lee Howard, head of information security and information risk at Evri, said the company never charges for redelivery.

"Lots of these try to charge a 'redelivery fee' which is nonsense we will attempt delivery three times before an item is returned.

We will never charge a re-delivery fee".

Victims have reported their stolen details being used in bank impersonation scams.

Criminal groups vary their approach, with some withdrawing small amounts repeatedly to avoid detection, while others attempt larger one-off thefts during busy periods.

The National Cyber Security Centre has warned that some fraudulent links also install malicious software on victims’ devices.

This can give criminals wider access to personal information stored on the phone.

Experts say shoppers should verify every delivery notification before responding.

Mr Mackenzie said: "If you're expecting five parcels and you get twenty-seven text messages, then twenty-two of them are not going to be legitimate".

Recipients are advised to confirm which courier is handling each delivery.

He added: "Be aware of who's delivering your parcels.

"If a delivery is going to be sent by DPD, Evri, or Royal Mail, expect contact from them and no one else".

Warning signs include unfamiliar numbers, missing order information and requests for payment.

Anyone who submits bank details should contact their provider immediately, especially if unauthorised transactions appear.

Suspected scam texts should be forwarded to 7726 before being deleted.

Mobile operators use these reports to block similar fraudulent messages from reaching other customers.

Reporting through messaging apps also helps prevent wider circulation of these scams.