"Consumers Warned of Surging Delivery Text Scams Ahead of Christmas"

Consumers have been warned to stay vigilant of delivery scam texts while online shopping for Christmas.  Security researchers at Proofpoint found that delivery ‘smishing’ scams are surging amid the busiest shopping period of the year.  Over half (55.94%) of all reported smishing text messages impersonated parcel and package delivery companies so far in Q4 2021.  This compares to just 16.37% of smishing attempts in Q4 2020, more than tripling the proportion year-on-year.  The researchers also observed a significant drop-off in other types of smishing scams in Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020.  For example, text scams impersonating financial bodies and banks made up 11.73% of smishing attacks in 2021, compared to 44.57% in 2020.  The data comes from the NCSC’s 7726 text message system, operated by Proofpoint.  This system enables customers to report suspicious texts.

Infosecurity reports: "Consumers Warned of Surging Delivery Text Scams Ahead of Christmas"