Scammers are exploiting discarded delivery boxes from Amazon and Flipkart to harvest personal information and launch sophisticated phishing attacks, so shoppers need to treat packaging as sensitive data rather than trash. Labels on parcels often include names, phone numbers, addresses and sometimes order details, which fraudsters collect from bins or common disposal areas and then use to make their outreach appear legitimate.
The attack begins with a simple, low-tech step: gathering boxes with intact shipping labels. Criminals extract the printed information and then contact the recipient posing as customer-care or rewards agents, leveraging the accurate personal details to build trust quickly. Because the caller or message can reference the victim’s real name, number, and recent purchase, targets are more likely to engage and follow instructions, which typically include clicking a link or sharing an OTP to “confirm” a cashback, refund, or prize.
Clicking the supplied link or following caller instructions is where the compromise happens. Victims are often led to phishing pages or prompted to install malicious apps that capture credentials, banking details, and OTPs, or to enter payment information directly on fake forms; these steps can lead to immediate financial loss and longer-term account takeover. Scammers sometimes combine this with social-engineering scripts—urgent tones, limited-time offers, or threats of cancelled orders—to pressure victims into acting without verification.
Safety tips
Protection is straightforward but requires habit change. Before discarding any parcel, remove or destroy the shipping label—tear it off, shred it, black it out with a permanent marker, or use an identity-protection roller stamp to obscure personal data. Never click links or install apps sent by unknown numbers, and verify any unexpected offers or refund requests directly through the official Amazon or Flipkart apps or websites rather than through messages or calls. Treat unsolicited calls that reference personal order details with skepticism, and never share OTPs, passwords, or bank information even when the caller appears informed.
This scam becomes especially active around big sale events when large volumes of deliveries increase the supply of labelled packaging and scammers’ opportunities to find usable targets. A few seconds spent removing labels and a little caution with links and calls can block an easy avenue criminals use to convert harmless cardboard into a source of identity theft and financial fraud.