UK Finance is warning people to be wary of delivery scam text messages ahead of Christmas, as new data highlights they are on the rise.

With ever more people doing their Christmas and Boxing Day sales shopping online, there will be huge numbers of parcels being delivered across the country, something criminals are targeting.

Figures provided to UK Finance by cybersecurity company Proofpoint reveal that so far in the final quarter of this year, over half of all reported 'smishing? text messages claimed to be from parcel and package delivery firms. This proportion has more than tripled compared to the final quarter of 2020 - as shown in the table below.

Often these fake text messages claim that the courier has been unable to make a delivery and ask the recipient to pay a fee or provide additional details in order to rearrange. There is then a link to a very convincing but fraudulent website asking for personal and financial information.

Proofpoint operates the 7726 text message system on behalf of mobile phone operators, which allows customers to report suspicious texts. Each year within the UK it receives millions of text messages reported as spam. The data shown in the table below covers those categorised as smishing.

Reports to the 7726 system are being used by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to take down fraudulent website URLs and prevent further fraud losses.

Consumers are also urged be on the lookout for purchase scams. Social media platforms, online and auction websites are increasingly used by criminals to carry out these scams, where a customer pays in advance for goods or services that are never received.

Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, said:

Scrooge-like criminals are using the festive season to try and trick people out of their cash. Whether you?re shopping online or waiting for deliveries over the festive period, it's important to be on the lookout for scams.

?Don't let fraudsters steal your Christmas - always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and stop and think before parting with your information or money.

Jacinta Tobin, vice president of Cloudmark Operations for Proofpoint, said:

Consumers need to be very sceptical of mobile messages that come from unknown sources. And it's important to never click on links in text messages, no matter how realistic they look. If you want to contact the purported vendor sending you a link, do so directly through their website and always manually enter the web address/URL. For offer codes, type them directly into the site as well. It's also vital that you don't respond to strange texts or texts from unknown sources. Doing so will often confirm you?re a real person to future scammers.

The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign urges the public to remember that criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police.  They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you?ll let your guard down for just a moment. Stop and think. It could protect you and your money.

• STOP: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
• CHALLENGE: Could it be fake? It's ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
• PROTECT: Contact your bank immediately if you think you?ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.