It is that time of the year when you have done some shopping online and you are waiting patiently for that delivery so you can wrap it up and put under the tree of give as a gift over the Christmas holiday season.

When you get a message in your email box or even by text message with the heading saying "Your parcel could not be delivered" you are more likely to open the message and click on the link that proports to tell you why your parcel is delayed. When you click on the link you are in real danger of infecting your computer with dangerous malware or losing your personal data and possible savings from your bank accounts.

The messages are more realistic then ever before and it is very hard to tell the difference from your postal company and the fake scammer unless you are alert and smart about how you respond to these emails.

Here are the following tips to help you dodge the scammers.

1.  Use a Gmail account to filter your emails. You can have up to five email accounts checked by your Gmail account so you can run your ISP based emails and business accounts through the account. Although the Gmail experience is not everyones cup of tea, the protection it gives you from scams and spam emails is more than worth the learning curve of the Gmail way. There are many other benefits of having a Gmail account which you can find out about in our FIZ forums.
2. Hover over any links in parcel delivery emails and see where the links is pointing. If it does not match the name of the company you are dealing with it is very likely dangerous and should not be clicked on.
3. Use parcel tracking from the store you shopped at. You can always log into the shop you are buying from and track your delivery and use the same area of your account to make enquiries and get support if your product is not up the scratch.
4. Always make an account if you can so that you start a relationship with the shop you are buying from so that you can easily log in and follow the progress of the delivery and also you may get direct phone numbers or priority support options over shopping as a guest.
5. Never open parcel delivery emails that appear out of the blue especially if you have not ordered anything. Sometimes the scammer will rely on your curiosity to click on the link to see what you are supposed to have ordered.

By following at least some of these rules you should be able to pick out the real postal emails and messages from the scammers and have a safe and happier holiday delivery season.