Cash on Delivery Parcel Swap and Wrong-Product Trick by SMS

How it looks by SMS, the red flags and what to do.

SMS scams lean on short, urgent lines and a shortened link. The message looks official because the sender name (header) is shaped to resemble a real organisation. Cash on Delivery Parcel Swap and Wrong-Product Trick is one of the ways this shows up: A delivery person asks for cash for a parcel you never ordered, or a package contains a swapped item. Learn how to refuse and what to check first.

What cash on delivery parcel swap and wrong-product trick looks like by SMS

• A request to call a number, install an app or share an OTP.
• Several near-identical messages arriving together from different senders.
• A sender name that resembles a bank, courier, tax or utility, or an ordinary mobile number.

In the unordered parcel version, the scammer uses a name, address and phone number gathered from a leaked list or a social profile. The parcel contains something cheap, labelled as a gift or a refund item. The delivery person arrives when a different family member is at home, who assumes a relative ordered it and pays the cash quickly.

Red flags to check on the text message

• The parcel is addressed to you but you or the household did not order it.
• The delivery person refuses to let you check the label or the sender before paying.
• You are told an OTP must be shared with the delivery person to close the order.
• The label has no seller name, no order number or a mismatched phone number.
• It promises a refund, prize or cashback you never asked for.
• It tells you to install an app from a link instead of the official store.

What to do

1. Ask the household whether anyone ordered it, then check your order history in the shopping app.
2. Do not pay, and do not give an OTP, until you have confirmed the order in the official app.
3. Politely decline the parcel and say you will check with the seller; real couriers can return it.
4. Paste the text into a scam checker (Safeavio Sentinel can check it) before you do anything else.
5. Report the sender on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility) and block the number.
6. Delete the message and tell family members who may get the same text.

You can report suspicious SMS and calls on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility) of the Department of Telecommunications.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Contact the seller or marketplace through its official app and raise a complaint with your video and photos.
2. If an OTP was shared, tell the platform at once and change your account password.
3. For online payments linked to the parcel, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.
4. Keep the label, box and receipt; do not throw them away until the case is closed.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If a delivery message or call arrives with a link or a code request, paste the text into Scam check in Safeavio Sentinel to see whether it carries pressure, a money demand or an OTP ask. A link can be checked with Link check before you open it. Safeavio cannot see what is inside a parcel, cannot verify a delivery person's identity and cannot get cash back, so confirm the order in the official shopping app.

Full guide: Cash on Delivery Parcel Swap and Wrong-Product Trick: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: phone call, fake app.

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