Fake Delivery Address Update and Redelivery Fee over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

A phone call lets the scammer talk fast, sound confident and keep you from thinking. The caller ID can be faked, so it proves nothing. Fake Delivery Address Update and Redelivery Fee is one of the ways this shows up: An SMS says your parcel is on hold because the address is incomplete and asks for a small fee on a lookalike link. The link steals card details.

What fake delivery address update and redelivery fee looks like over the phone

• A calm, official voice that already knows your name or the last digits of your card.
• Being told to stay on the line and not to tell your family.
• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.

The scammer sends the same text to thousands of numbers, relying on the chance that some recipients are expecting a parcel. The sender name is made to resemble a courier or postal service, and the link is shortened so the real address is hidden. It leads to a page that copies the look of a courier tracking site, with a logo, a reference number and a clear countdown.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• The message asks for a fee to deliver a parcel you cannot clearly link to an order.
• The link is shortened or the address differs from the courier's real website.
• A tight deadline of a day is given before the parcel is 'returned'.
• A page that should take a small fee asks for the OTP, CVV or card PIN.
• You are told that a case, arrest, block or penalty is coming within minutes.
• You are asked to move money to a "safe account".

What to do

1. Check your orders in the shopping app, and track the parcel using the courier's own app or site typed by hand.
2. Do not open the link or type any card detail.
3. Delete the SMS after reporting the number in Sanchar Saathi under Chakshu.
4. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
5. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
6. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call your bank through the number on your card and ask to block the card immediately.
2. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the SMS and the page link.
3. Check the card statement for other charges and tell the bank about each of them.
4. Do not install any file the page offered; remove it if it was installed.

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

Paste the SMS into Scam check in Safeavio Sentinel, or share it from your messages app, and it shows the reasons it looks risky, such as urgency and a fee request. Link check tests a link before you open it for lookalike domains and shortened links. Safeavio does not read your messages by itself and cannot confirm whether a real parcel is waiting for you.

Full guide: Fake Delivery Address Update and Redelivery Fee: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: SMS, WhatsApp, email.

Questions