Stay safe › Scams
Fake delivery and parcel scams
"Your parcel couldn't be delivered. Pay ₹25 to reschedule." The link steals your card details and OTP.
How it works
You’re expecting a parcel, so a message about a failed delivery seems normal. The link asks for a tiny fee to reschedule. The page looks like the courier’s, but it is fake: when you enter your card number and the OTP, the scammers use them for a much bigger payment. Another version happens at your door: someone arrives with a parcel you never ordered and asks for an OTP to “cancel” it, or asks for cash on delivery.
Real cases
Goa’s Cyber Crime police warned of a rise in fake parcel messages in late 2025. One woman was asked to pay ₹10.25 for an India Post parcel. After she entered the OTP, about ₹25,782 was taken from her credit card. In Hyderabad, police reported in November 2025 that a man expecting his vehicle’s registration certificate opened a fake DTDC “failed delivery” link and lost about ₹2.47 lakh from his credit card.
The rule
A small fee through a link is the bait. Check every delivery in the official app or website, and never type an OTP into a page you reached from a message.
If a real order arrives empty or wrong
Sometimes the order is genuine but the box is empty, or holds a brick, an old phone or the wrong item. Record a video while you open costly parcels, without cuts, showing the sealed box and its label. Report it in the shopping app’s own help section within its return window, never through a number you found online. If the company doesn’t sort it out, complain to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 (it takes complaints in 17 languages) or at consumerhelpline.gov.in.
If it has already happened
- If you entered card details or an OTP, call your bank at once to block the card.
- Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in. The sooner you report, the better the chance of stopping the money.
- Report the SMS or number on Chakshu.
Protect yourself
- Check delivery status only in the courier's or shop's official app or website, using the tracking number from your order.
- Never share an OTP with a delivery person unless it's the delivery code for a parcel you actually ordered.
- Don't pay for or accept a cash-on-delivery parcel you didn't order. Open COD parcels in front of the delivery person if the shop allows it.
Say it simply
Real couriers don't ask for small fees through a link. Check in the official app first.
If a parcel you didn't order arrives, don't pay and don't share any OTP. Ask family to check.
Where to report
- Cybercrime helpline 1930Money has been taken or a payment was tricked out of you. Call at once: the sooner, the better the chance of freezing it.Call 1930
- Your bank, directlyBlock your card or UPI, and report the transaction. Use the number on your card or the bank's official app, never one from a message.Number on your card
- Chakshu, on Sanchar SaathiReport a suspected fraud call, SMS or WhatsApp message, even if you lost nothing.sancharsaathi.gov.in
- National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalFile a complaint about any cyber fraud, harassment, sextortion or morphed images.cybercrime.gov.in
Learn more
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