Evri has issued a warning to those using its parcel service to be aware of ‘spray and pay’ phishing scams now targeting thousands of consumers every month.

The parcel company is asking customers in particular to be alert to messages coming via iMessage - Apple’s encrypted messaging service - and RCS which is a similar technology used by Google Android phones.

Both services, which often replace the use of traditional SMS text messages, have dramatically improved personal privacy but, says Evri, they can make it more difficult for its specialist fraud detection teams to detect and flag malicious links - thus giving scammers a greater chance of their messages getting through.

Phishing - or smishing - scams involve criminals using fake emails and text messages to trick victims.

This may involve sending people to websites which then steal bank details or personal information or by pretending to be an organisation you’re likely to trust using tactics that can be very convincing.

Evri has experienced a 174% increase in reported scams from April 2023 to April 2024 whilst it has successfully closed down more than 5,000 scam sites in the last year alone - a 268% increase year on year.

The firm says it is working closely with a number of cybersecurity partners including the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre to identify delivery scams using Evri’s name and remove them as quickly as possible.

But with scammers ‘getting smarter’ criminals are able, admits Evri, to avoid some of the defence measures in place.

A lack of a personal greeting, unusual links and poor language and grammar can all be signs a message may be a scam and customers should report any suspicious activity to support Evri in its work taking down fraudulent sites.

Anyone who thinks they may have lost money to a smishing scam should report it to their bank straight away.

Richa Bhuttar, Chief Information Security Officer at Evri explained the tactics some frausters are using to find genuine customers.

He said: "These criminals use the ‘spray and pray’ method, taking advantage of the millions of parcels we deliver to households every day.

“They know sending thousands of messages every day means some of them are likely to reach some people expecting a parcel.

“Lots of these messages try to charge a ‘redelivery fee’ which is nonsense – we will attempt delivery three times before an item is returned and there is no charge.”