O2 issues urgent message alert this week and | Tech News

There’s a big procuring week forward with Black Friday 2025 formally kicking off on Friday, November 28. Whilst that’s great information for these searching for a discount, it may also be a harmful period for unsuspecting customers. Cyber crooks love this period because it’s a prime time to catch people out with convincing textual content message scams. In a bid to keep clients protected and stop them turning into a sufferer, O2 has simply issued a main warning and is telling everybody “to stay vigilant”.

One of the largest considerations is supply scams. With more people shopping for issues online at this time of the yr, it may be simple to lose monitor of what’s been ordered, and this makes it easy for hackers to ship out missed supply and different varieties of procuring messages.

“With deal-hunters anticipated to spend billions over the Black Friday weekend, a quarter (25%) of Brits admit to usually forgetting what they’ve purchased and solely remembering when it arrives at their door. This could make supply rip-off texts more plausible – one thing scammers are planning to take advantage of,” O2 explained.

To keep customers safe, Virgin Media O2 says it now uses AI and firewall technology to prevent scam texts and calls from reaching customers’ phones. Since it launched this technology, the UK network says that hundreds of millions of scam texts have been blocked this year alone, including millions of fake delivery scam messages.

If you are worried about this type of threat, O2 has 5 useful tips aimed at helping you stay safe.

HOW TO STAY SAFE FROM DELIVERY SCAMS

Keep a note of what you’ve ordered and where from: With 6 in 10 Brits doing much more shopping over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s easy to lose track – noting down what you’ve ordered and where from helps spot fake confirmations and phishing scams.

Before you click, always double check any link that looks suspicious: Delivery scam texts typically try to take you to a fake online website. If there’s a link that looks unusual, is shortened using bit.ly, or an especially long address when it’s claiming to be from one of the big providers (DPD, Evri, Royal Mail or Yodel) it could be a scam.

Watch out for urgent payment requests: Fraudsters often try to get their victims to act immediately. If a message claims your parcel won’t arrive unless you pay immediately, it’s a major red flag. Legitimate delivery companies don’t demand instant payments via text.

Check the sender details: On most new smartphones, trusted delivery companies appear as the brand, for example ‘DPD’ or ‘Royal Mail’, instead of a random number. If you see an unfamiliar number or something that looks odd – particularly if it is not a UK number (+44), treat it with caution.

Be cautious of generic messages without any specific reference to where or what you’ve ordered: Scammers are hoping to catch out as many people as possible which is why they keep their messages generic. If they provide too much information – such as the fake website or fake package details – they know Brits are likely to be warier.

Speaking about the latest threat, James Harwood, Fraud Prevention Strategy Lead at Virgin Media O2 said: “Black Friday needs to be about touchdown great offers – not turning into sufferer to fraud. But sadly, subtle scammers know busy procuring durations are a good time for them to behave.

“We have blocked lots of of thousands and thousands of rip-off texts, together with faux supply messages, this yr alone. But this festive season we’re issuing new advice to help more Brits swerve the scammers. Don’t get stung this Black Fraud-day. If one thing seems suspicious, don’t click on. Instead, report it to 7726 so we will examine.”