They’ll try and get you by any means – hackers, conmen, crooks – they don’t mind if you open a dodgy email, you believe their telephone call, or you fall for a fake text message.

The increase in mobile fraud has grown exponentially with our use of mobile devices and scamming us via SMS has become lucrative for the criminals.

So how do you know whether the text message you have received is genuine, or if it is not?

How Do I Know If A Text Message Is Genuine?

Below are two examples of text messages from ‘DPD’. One is genuine, one is fake. Can you tell which is which?

Scam text messages can look like a genuine text message. But there are some pointers that may assist you in recognising the scammers from the real thing.

1. ACT NOW! Urgency and threats of consequences if you don’t do something within a narrow timeframe are a tell-tale sign. Scaring you into acting quickly without giving you the chance to think things through. Take a step back, breathe deeply for the count of 10 and then re-read the message to see if the scaremongering is just that.
2. DEARE SIRZ: Spelling, grammar, unusual addresses, names, anything that stands out as slightly odd is a warning sign that this is a fake.
3. UNKNOWN NUMBER: Most organisations protect their ‘Sender ID’ so text messages should be from ‘DPD’ or ‘NHS’ instead of a generic number. Whilst this isn’t 100% fool proof it does you give an indication.

Given what we know from the list above, are you now able to spot the scam?

They both look very similar; in both instances we were expecting deliveries from DPD. The clue on this example is point 3 from above – the genuine text is from DPD, on the right-hand side. The scam is on the left, from an unknown mobile number.

It is always wise to treat a text message that requires you to do something with upmost caution. If you are in doubt, check their official website, use the contact details on your bank statement or other communications, and adopt a Zero Trust attitude.