POLICE have warned of a DPD delivery scam hitting Oldham this week. Fraudsters are sending fake DPD emails and texts to Oldham residents that claim the delivery driver was “unable to deliver your parcel today” as “you weren’t in or there was no safe place to leave it”.

The links in the messages lead to fraudulent websites that request a small payment to rearrange the delivery.

If the victim makes this payment, they’ll receive a phone call within a few days from someone purporting to be from their bank to inform them about suspicious transactions on their account.

Criminals carrying out this scam are able to use a tactic called "spoofing" to make the call or text appear genuine by cloning the phone number, or sender ID, used by the bank.

These phishing messages are commonly used by criminals to gain access to someone’s personal and financial details, leaving them free to commit fraud and take their money.

The police are urgently reminding people that their bank will never ask for personal or financial information over the phone, or via text or email, and say that if you need to check it’s a genuine message you should contact the bank directly.

You can report suspicious emails you have received but not acted upon, by forwarding the original message to report@phishing.go.uk

Any suspicious texts that have been received but not acted up can be reported by forwarding the original message to 7726, which spells SPAM on your keyboard.