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How Did Scammer Get My Details?

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Hi all. 

 

I'm expecting a delivery from Royal Mail and then I receive a scam text asking to pay a delivery charge otherwise the parcel will be sent back to the sender.

 

I'm more worried about how the scammer knows about the delivery. Has someone from Royal Mail passed on my details to them?

 

I can't think of any other way they could have gotten the info.

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I get the texts even if I'm not expecting a parcel. Suspect in your case it was probably just a coincidence. 

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Did you put your mobile number on the order page for whatever you're expecting? Bad idea, spammers and autodiallers will crawl through websites and get your details that way.

 

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5 minutes ago, Mr Allen said:

Did you put your mobile number on the order page for whatever you're expecting? Bad idea, spammers and autodiallers will crawl through websites and get your details that way.

 

You might expect these sites to have some protection, most online ordering requires card and contact details, so if they can be easily accessed as you state, that's quite a weakness.

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7 minutes ago, peteh1 said:

You might expect these sites to have some protection, most online ordering requires card and contact details, so if they can be easily accessed as you state, that's quite a weakness.

Most are VERY secure, but even the securest site isn't totally unhackable.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, peteh1 said:

You might expect these sites to have some protection, most online ordering requires card and contact details, so if they can be easily accessed as you state, that's quite a weakness.

All online shopping sites - reputable ones, anyway, are HTTPS (secure).

As to the original posters question - the text was coincidental - how, unless your mobile number was on the outside of the package, would RM be able to see it?

 

The only times I have had deliveries where my contact details have been on the actual package have been where it is a high-value item, and the courier has needed to ensure I am available. I have always been informed this would be the case - on the suppliers email advising of despatch and giving me the courier company and tracking number.

4 minutes ago, Mr Allen said:

Most are VERY secure, but even the securest site isn't totally unhackable.

 

 

True - but the data on those sites should be behind further security, or organised in such a way that linking the data is only possible if you can reach the core.

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16 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

All online shopping sites - reputable ones, anyway, are HTTPS (secure).

As to the original posters question - the text was coincidental - how, unless your mobile number was on the outside of the package, would RM be able to see it?

All https does is ensure the bit of string between the sender and receiver is secure and that the receiver (probably) really is the real receiver.  There is nothing in it to guarantee that the data before it goes down the string or what happens to it after it's fallen out of the other end of the string is in any way secure.

 

In the OPs case, then I'd say this was most likely a coincidence, particularly if the seller is large, reputable and has a long, good track record of internet commerce. 

   

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We are all now on numerous data bases, you can't avoid it. That leaves scammers free to join the dots and find various ways to exploit it. But then carrying your cash round in a wallet in your back pocket is also a risk. 

Sadly, it's modern life, just be as careful as you can.

Edited by Anna B

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In many cases its less about scammers using sophisticated techniques to bypass security and more simply chancing their luck..

 

If a scammer is not picking it up from some publicly available marketing directory from some website form you signed up  in the past, they may simply be doing blanket coverage spam and seeing what responses they get. 

 

Ultimately, there is not much privacy in mobile numbers.  The parameters are narrow and defined by OFCOM.  In the UK they will nearly all start with 07xxxx and all be limited to a maximum of 11 digits.   Therefore a quick bit of computer programming will be able to generate a list of everything that fits within that parameter and off the scammer goes.

 

Dial or SMS out all the numbers in the list, any that get instant rejection or block get removed from the list.....  send out second wave of dial out or SMS.... and keep repeating with slight variations on the text or automated call content....

 

It only takes a handful of victims resonding from tens of thousands of numbers for them to make their money.

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Good summary there, @ECCOnoob. Strangely, neither of my mobile numbers have attracted more than a couple of spam texts, and I've had one of them for 20+ years, the other for around 15.

I have also found not responding to land line calls where I didn't know the number (or they were obvious spam) has reduced the volume of those down to less than two a month - and I have no blocking/checking technology in place.

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