Chronopost, Colissimo, and Mondial Relay: Beware delivery scams in France
The surge in Christmas shopping always leads to an uptick of scams at this time of year
Scammers are out in force even more than normal in the major shopping weeks before Christmas
voronaman/Shutterstock
Residents and online shoppers in France are warned to be alert to an increasing number of delivery scams ahead of Christmas, particularly for parcel delivery companies Chronopost, Colissimo, and Mondial Relay.
Increased online shopping and parcel deliveries ahead of the festive season always leads to an uptick in scammers seeking to profit, warns consumer website 60 Millions de Consommateurs.
Phishing attempts
The scams are usually ‘phishing’ attempts, in which scammers pretend to be the genuine delivery company. They contact would-be victims, advising them of a problem or delay with delivery. The messages are either in the form of an email or text, and often appear very convincing.
The emails in particular may have similar branding - e.g. logo, font, colours - to the genuine company. Links on emails and SMSs may direct you towards websites that appear similarly legitimate (however, there are usually signs that they are not genuine, see below).
Read more: Parcel frauds on increase in France: How to stay alert and avoid them
Read also: Watch out for this scam parcel text in run up to Christmas in France
Typically, the scammers do not even know if their recipients are waiting for a parcel. They simply send hundreds of messages or texts in the hope that someone - who is genuinely waiting for a delivery - will be tricked.
With more people waiting for deliveries in the run-up to Christmas, their rate of ‘success’ is higher.
Spurious claims
The most common parcel delivery companies targeted by scammers include Mondial Relay, Chronopost, and Colissimo, warns tech specialist website 01net.com.
The scams typically make claims such as:
An extra fee must be paid before the parcel can be delivered
The parcel does not fit in your letterbox and you need to pay for it to be redelivered
The parcel is at your local depot but you must pay a fee before collecting it
Often, the fee is small (a few euros). This is a way for the scammers to lure victims into a false sense of security by taking their bank details. Only later will the criminals use the data to steal much more than the original ‘fee’.
Mondial Relay has released a statement warning its customers that “the company will never ask you to download a file, to make a bank transfer, to send a text to track your parcel, to call an expensive number, or to pay extra fees [for delivery]”.
It also states that “all emails are sent from noreply@mondialrelay.fr or noreply@mondialrelay.com and never from a Gmail account”.
The company has been particularly targeted in recent weeks, with scammers setting up more than 20 fake URLs (website addresses) pretending to be the genuine firm.
Tips to avoid being scammed
Be alert to scams. At this time of year scammers will send many texts and emails to people hoping that just one might land. If you have been shopping online be on your guard and be sceptical of any texts or emails that claim you have to pay more for delivery. This is rarely true.
Double check all details. Many URLs and websites contain some kind of error that can help tip off would-be victims to the fact that they are not legitimate. Double-checking domain names, logo quality, spelling, grammar etc on these sites can also help reveal that they are not real.
Check all parcel details are correct. For example you may have a tracking number or delivery number. A scammer is very unlikely to know (or even mention) this number, which can be an indication that a message is fake.
Do not click on any links contained within text messages or emails. Unless you are 100% sure of their legitimacy it is better to navigate to the legitimate website yourself by typing it into the browser, and checking the supposed ‘payment details needed’ manually.
Contact the company or authority directly before paying. For example if you receive a message that appears to come from Mondial Relay, La Poste, or Colissimo etc and you believe you do genuinely have a parcel coming from them (and could need to pay an extra fee, such as a foreign customs charge), it is best to check directly before paying anything.
When in doubt, do not pay or enter any details. If the extra payment is legitimate (for example, there really are extra customs fees to pay), the legitimate company will contact you, possibly in different ways (e.g. a headed letter), rather than through a single, unexpected text or email. A legitimate company will usually direct you to their website manually to pay, rather than ask you to click on a link.
