As end-of-financial-year (EOFY) and mid-year shopping sprees ramped up, June proved to be another significant month for SMS scammers in both Australia and New Zealand. Notably, there was a 15.38% increase in scams blocked compared to May.

Delivery Scams Surge as Result of EOFY and Mid Year Sales

With many consumers across the countries shopping online to take advantage of EOFY and mid-year deals, scammers saw a prime opportunity. A major trend this month was SMS scams impersonating parcel delivery services like “Australia Parcel” or “New Zealand Parcel”

These fake messages often claimed that a package couldn’t be delivered due to missing information or that it had arrived and needed more information. This would prompt users to “confirm” their house number or address via a suspicious link.

What made these particularly deceptive was their timing. Many people were legitimately expecting packages, so urgency and familiarity worked in the scammer’s favour.

How to Tell if It’s a Scam

Scam SMS messages often share a few common traits:

• Unexpected: You weren’t expecting a delivery or service.
• Sense of urgency: “Act now” or “last chance” language.
• Personal info requests: Asking for your address, login details, or payment info.
• Weird links: Shortened URLs or addresses that don’t match the company’s official site.
• Spelling or grammar issues: These are still one of the biggest red flags.

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