After all these years … I fell for a scam :(

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Are you sitting comfortably ?

This is a bit convoluted:

I recently received a message on the iPhone from 90541 8156311

This purported to be from EVRi stating that my delivery address was incomplete and asking me to provide the number of my house, by accessing a web-page

https://evrideliver.top/gb < etc. >

This ‘omission’ seemed fairly convincing, because my house is actually not numbered.

Mercifully, Safari could not / would not connect to that URL

Having now fallen into the trap, and being somewhat irritated,  I responded to the SMS with a short burst of messages.

Shortly thereafter, I received a notification from O2 that I had reached 50% of my ‘Spend Cap’ [something that has never happened before]

Checking my O2 account revealed that I had been charged for five messages at £0.83 each

Yesterday, I went to the O2 shop in Rhyl, where a very helpful chap [Nathan] immediately confirmed that this is a scam

You might like to ponder how it is all supposed to work though

… I think I probably got-off very lightly !!

MichaelG.

[HowiParticipant @howi]

some questions to ask ones self in this situation:-

am i expecting anything to be delivered?

is delivery likely to be via evri?

have you given them your phone number? if not how have they got it?

you will have a tracking number – have they quoted it?

a house number is not needed for delivery (it does help though!

What is behind the link they sent?

why reply to the sms?

——————————————————–

Now I have one for you (all of you that is)

I recently ordered some bits from Aliexpress and noticed postage on individual items has increased alarmingly, so fished around to get the items with free postage.

Items were ordered, tracking number given, fast on route to airport, then communication from EVRI that parcel was expected.

Parcel gets through customs then onto EVRI delivery hub.

I then get a message that the parcel is on the delivery wagon and expected sometime that day.

within an hour I received a message from their customer care rep to say the parcel appears to be lost but they will chase up and deliver asap.

Many days pass, the EVRI app shows it out for delivery but the date has not changed.

I go on the EVRI website and speak to a bot asking where my parcel is – no or limited response

this goes on for a few more days then I get a communication from Alexpress saying that because delivery is outside the quoted time I get  a pound refund for each item.

go onto EVRI app/site and delivery is complete dated many days ago

return to Aliexpress site and quote items not received and get my money back.

what a faff for a 10 pound spend

I suspect that the items were never sent and collaberation between Aliexpress and EVRI – or am I being neurotic?

I suspect that Aliexpress would rather I order similar items with the raised postage at double the original price.

 

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

Never assume a conspiracy theory when a cock-up theory fits the facts! Given that Evri are barely capable of delivering to the right county, let alone the right address, and given that they seem to subcontract local delivery to Yodel who rival them in delivery accuracy, would they really be capable of setting up and carrying out a complex agreement with Aliexpress?

But maybe I’m a bit biased in my judgement having recently recovered two parcels (only one of which was mine) from behind an unmarked garden gate 300m from the nearest house.

As for Michael’s scam – I think that the general principle of never trusting a URL sent to you – unless you have good reason to do so – is sound. In this case, maybe it was following up on a premium rate number rather than a URL that was the real scam, which is a bit more subtle and very easily overlooked in the general “What’s going on?” state of mind. Understandable, and thanks for bringing it to our attention, Michael.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Not trying to excuse my error … but just a few points:

• EVRi appears to now be the courier of choice for AliExpress
• My local courier is excellent
• AliExpress has recently started sending me ‘updates’ for parcels that have already been delivered.
• the URL looked fairly convincing, and crucially … it started with https

MichaelG.

 

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

I have no idea what communication between supplier and delivery company takes place. Often, it seems to work fine but yesterday, for example, a supplier (a well-respected UK company) told me that Evri would deliver and have me a tracking number but later I had a message from Yodel saying that they would deliver. In fact, the parcel arrived within the delivery spot to my door. All the same, I’m a little reassured by the fact that Yodel sends me a photograph of the delivery so I can recognise which neighbour has received it! What the data return path is when the delivery mechanism is via several agents is anyone’s guess. Maybe AliExpress don’t always get the message?

As for Https – that just means that someone has bought a domain name and a security certificate. It provides an encrypted channel between your browser and their web server but absolutely no guarantee of trust in what that web server does. Unfortunately. That’s why a number of financial industry sites ask you for a “secret” when you first register. They will then show you this during the login process so you know that the end point is authentic. Too complicated for general use, though.

 

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Not a scam but tracking issues. I recently posted a package to a EU country with Parcel Force. It was a high value item, enough to buy a mill and a lathe…. Posted at the local post office (who are not the best) with a online prepaid label.
Tracking the next day day said “Collection attempted, not available” this worried me and the receipient. After a coule of days it added at hub, then at customs but still no collection. Then it said in destination country and next day it said “collected from XYZ Post Office” ! then nothing for a few days. More worry. It was than delivered.
I can only imagine it wasn’t scanned properly when it picked up from the post office and someone manually corrected it when the parcel was shipped.
While it was insured I know from experience that actually gettin any money from the postoffice can be difficult paricuarly if you don’t have proof of purchase price.

Robert.

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