I4C has warned about a delivery-agent impersonation trend in which criminals try to activate call forwarding on a victim’s phone.
How the scam works
A caller claims there is a problem with your parcel, address, delivery PIN or refund. They ask you to dial a code or a sequence containing symbols and a phone number. That action may forward your incoming calls to a number controlled by the fraudster.
Forwarded calls can help criminals intercept verification calls, impersonate you or continue another banking and account-takeover fraud.
Stay safe
- Never dial a USSD or call-forwarding code supplied by an unknown caller.
- Delivery agents do not need you to change network settings to deliver a parcel.
- Use only the courier company’s official app or website to check a shipment.
- If you dialled a suspicious code, contact your telecom operator immediately and check whether call forwarding is active.
Report the attempt
Suspected fraud calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages and harmful links can be reported through the government’s Chakshu facility. If money has been lost, use 1930 and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal instead.
If money or account access is already lost
- Call your bank or payment provider immediately and ask them to block the transaction or account.
- Call the national cyber-fraud helpline 1930 as quickly as possible.
- File a report at cybercrime.gov.in.
- Preserve screenshots, phone numbers, UPI IDs, transaction references, emails and chat history.
Official reference
See the I4C advisories page for the delivery-agent call-forwarding warning.