A call about a parcel you are actually expecting is far more convincing than a random scam attempt, which is exactly why courier-delivery fraud works. Anyone who has just placed an online order becomes an easy target the moment a tracking number exists.
The common script
A call or SMS claims there is a “customs fee” or an extra “delivery charge” that must be paid immediately or the parcel gets returned. Sometimes it is a request to read out an OTP “to confirm delivery.” Sometimes it is a link, sent by SMS or WhatsApp, to a page styled to look like a courier’s website, asking for card details to “release” the shipment.
What a real delivery call looks like
None of that matches how a real delivery works. Couriers publish this directly: TCS states plainly on its own site that it will never call or message asking for an OTP, a payment link, card details or personal information, and that a genuine courier call is limited to confirming a name and address. Cash-on-delivery is paid in cash, to the courier, at the door, not through a link sent in advance.
Habits that close off most of this
Never read out an OTP to anyone who calls, whatever they claim it confirms. Do not pay through a link sent by SMS or WhatsApp — a genuine fee, such as customs duty, gets settled with the courier directly. Treat urgency as a warning sign rather than a reason to act fast. And verify independently: look up the shipment on the courier’s own tracking page using the number from the original receipt, or call the courier’s published helpline rather than any number the caller gave you. TCS Track is one such independent way to check a TCS number directly.
Why these calls work
They target people at exactly the moment they are least skeptical: right after ordering something exciting, or mid-week waiting on a shipment already running late. Slowing down for thirty seconds to check tracking independently defeats almost all of it.
It isn’t specific to one courier
Impersonation calls piggyback on whichever brand a buyer happens to be expecting a parcel from. The tracking number on the original receipt is the safest starting point, precisely because it comes from the seller rather than the unsolicited call.
If details have already been shared
Contact the bank immediately to block the card or reverse the transaction, and change any reused passwords. Reporting the number won’t undo the loss, but it helps flag the pattern before it reaches someone else.
