Security advice2024-01-02T08:11:56+00:00

Security advice

GLS brand impersonation

At GLS Spain we have detected an increase in cases in which our name and brand image are used to commit fraud related to the shipment of goods, mostly on platforms for the sale of second-hand products on the Internet. We provide some tips to detect them and avoid being victims when we find ourselves before them:

• At GLS we do not transport cash (currency in legal tender), securities or bank checks.

• We do not intervene in economic money transactions, either between individuals or between companies.

• We are not intermediaries or depositories in the sale of second-hand products.

• We do not request payment details by e-mail or SMS to create a customer account at GLS Spain. In case you are expecting a parcel from a non-EU country or if you are based in a non-EU country you may be contacted to pay duties & taxes by Email, SMS or letter by either GLS or an authorized agent.

• We do not use online platforms dedicated to the sale of products to promote our shipments or services.

• For our communications, we use the email domain “xxxx@gls-spain.es”, “xxxx@gls-spain.dev” or “xxxx@gls-spain.com”.

• The official website of GLS Spain is gls-spain.es, so we only send e-mails and SMS with links that lead to it. Report here those emails that do not meet these characteristics.

• We only charge for expenses incurred when managing shipments and official GLS services.

• We actively collaborate with the State Security Forces to prosecute any fraudulent activity in the use of our corporate image. However, at GLS Spain we have no control over the creation of these fraudulent environments, so we are not responsible for expenses, surcharges or irregular payments made to third parties who impersonate us.

Impersonation of the GLS brand

With the huge increase in e-commerce in recent years, internet scam attempts have become more common and sophisticated. Criminals impersonate the identity of GLS, using social networks and sending false emails or SMS, among others. These usually contain requests for payment or personal data.

In addition to this fraudulent use of our name and image, there are specific cases in which fraudsters impersonate the identity of the telephone number to send communications (spoofing). These cases, which have been detected through smishing (phishing via SMS), make it difficult to identify the scam and against which we ask that you take extreme precautions by avoiding clicking on the link.

The recipients of these messages must inform GLS immediately and under no circumstances meet the payment or personal data requirements. It is not recommended to try to unmask criminals because if it is a random scam attempt, it will be confirming that the account is still active and, therefore, they will use it again in future scams.

GLS will never ask recipients by email to pay any amount through an online payment platform, credit cards or bank transfer.

Avoid giving out your credit card details, making bank transfers or downloading attached documents.

GLS is not responsible for damages caused by scams in which your identity is impersonated. Consequently, GLS does not accept any responsibility for costs, charges or payments illegally collected as a result of a scam.

Contact to report any suspicious activity to our Information Security team.

Scam types and communication channels

Scam types and communication channels

There are a variety of scam types that use different communication channels, for example:

  • Fraudulent e-mails
  • SMS or WhatsAp
  • Fake websites
  • Social networks

GLS maintains a proactive stance in the fight against these scams and we welcome any reports of suspicious activity that may involve the use of our brand. Please let us know immediately if you suspect that an e-mail or SMS might be fake, or if a website or social media account is imitating us, so that we can take action to stop the scam.

We will carefully review each notice received, but generally will not respond to personal inquiries. If you have any questions about the status of your shipment, you can send them directly to our Customer Service.

Fraudulent e-mails2022-10-24T08:03:14+00:00

GLS only sends e-mails to its recipients and customers regarding parcel delivery instructions and delivery status information. GLS will never request payments using online payment platforms, credit cards or bank transfers.

Indicators that should make us suspicious:

  • The sender pressures the recipient with threats or unwanted consequences. Their intention is that you don’t have time to consider the legitimacy of the request.
  • Spelling and/or grammatical errors. Many of these scams are not designed by Spanish speakers and use online translators, so they make many spelling mistakes that give away their fraudulent origin.
  • If the message contains links, if we place our cursor over them we will be able to see that the real address to which we will be redirected appears in the lower left part of our screen. Be suspicious if the address does not seem to match what you would expect from an official website.
  • Sender e-mail addresses come from @gmail, @gmx, @yahoo or others not created by GLS.

To effectively combat fraudulent e-mails, please send us the e-mail as an attachment. Of course, you can send us screenshots, URLs, suspicious content or other evidence that may be helpful in identifying the scam. Forwarding an e-mail is often not enough, as important e-mail data is lost. Therefore, sending the original e-mails as an attachment is the best way to provide evidence

Fraudulent telephones2022-10-24T08:29:11+00:00

In some fraudulent advertisements that you can find on Google, they provide you with a telephone number that invites you to call this 11887. Do not do it, it will not offer you any information and will only try to artificially lengthen the call. The number 11887 does not belong to or has any relationship with GLS. If you contact us we will never redirect you to this phone number.

At GLS we have denounced this practice in order to eliminate it as soon as possible. If you have been a victim of this scam, do not hesitate to send us the details through the fraud form so that we can have more details to help us eradicate this fraudulent practice.

SMS or WhatsApp2022-10-24T08:06:16+00:00

If you are receiving fraudulent messages via SMS or Whatsapp, send us screenshots of the conversations, as well as the name of the contact and the phone number of the person sending them. Often the telephone numbers from which we are contacted are foreign. This is a fact that should make us suspicious.

Specific cases of smishing (phishing through SMS) have been uncovered on which, in addition to using identity of companies, impersonate the phone number (spoofing) making identification of fraud difficult.

You can contact us to report fraudulent messages you receive.

Fake websites2022-10-24T08:27:26+00:00

GLS has discovered several fake websites using our logos, names and content. These were used by criminals to defraud GLS customers and non-customers. These pages are designed to trick recipients and obtain sensitive data such as login credentials or financial information.

The main GLS website in Spanish is www.gls-spain.es. Any other domain should be considered suspicious and should not be accessed. You can access the rest of the GLS Group domains at www.gls-group.eu.

If you are not sure whether the website is legitimate or not, you should check these aspects first:

  • Does the URL have any relation to GLS? If the name is not related to our brand, we are probably facing a fake website.
  • Is the web connection secure? On the left side of the URL there should be a padlock, which indicates that the web certificate is valid and browsing the site is safe. This should not be taken as a clear sign of the legitimacy of the site. Sometimes, certificates can be obtained to make these sites appear legitimate.
  • Check the policies that appear at the bottom of the home page (privacy, legal notice, terms and conditions, etc.). In many cases, offenders do not bother to fill in these sections.
  • Does the website look professional? Generally, these websites are composed only of the home page, so if you click on other sections you will not be able to access them. • Are there spelling mistakes?

These four indicators must be evaluated as a whole, as each separate aspect will not ensure the legitimacy of the website.

If a website looks suspicious to you, let us know immediately by sending us the link to the website. We will conduct an investigation and take appropriate action if it is determined that the domain is illegitimate.

Social networks2022-10-24T08:24:35+00:00

GLS manages official social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In our accounts you will always see a link to our website www.gls-spain.es, as well as an extensive publication history. In addition, we will only contact you to answer questions that you have previously asked us.

Below are some pointers for identifying fraudulent accounts:

  • The account has been created a short time ago, usually a few weeks or months.
  • The account does not provide official contact channels or information.
  • The account does not include the link to our website.
  • The account is actively trying to contact you without you having asked any questions.
  • The account offers special gifts or refers to websites other than www.gls-spain.es.

In case of doubt about the legitimacy of the account, report it immediately. If impersonation is confirmed, the company that owns the social network will be informed in order to have the account removed. You can also report the fraudulent account directly to the company that owns the social network.

Examples of detected scams

Here are some examples of real scams that have been reported to us by recipients. Currently, the scam attempts originate, in many cases, in the use of false profiles on platforms for buying and selling second-hand products between individuals (Beseif, Wallapop, Milanuncios, etc.). The most common method is to contact a user who sells an item, communicate interest in the product and offer payment by third parties or cash on delivery. Once they have obtained the phone number and e-mail, they contact the victim pretending to be GLS and requesting an amount for the cost of packaging the parcel to avoid damage and breakage, as we can see in the following image.

See example

Later in the same e-mail, they provide a bank account number to make the deposit.

See example

The blue hyperlink that says “click here to open your GLS premium account” redirects us to a page where we have to fill in a form with all our credit card information.

Sometimes they don’t even bother to create the form and ask for the information directly in the e-mail itself, as, for example, in the following image

See example

E-mail is often used in conjunction with sending WhatsApps from foreign numbers, as the following example shows.

If you have been the victim of a scam, we recommend that you always report the facts to the State Security Forces.

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