Many people in the UK will have received a message like this. A text turns up claiming that Royal Mail tried to deliver a parcel, you weren't in, and you now need to pay a small fee to arrange re-delivery. The amount is usually tiny, a pound or two, sometimes less. That is the whole point. It is small enough that most people will tap the link and pay without thinking too hard about it.
The same scam runs under the names of DPD, Evri, Hermes, UPS, FedEx and occasionally the Post Office. The wording changes, the logos change, but the mechanics are the same. The real risk is not the small fee itself but what the criminals do with your card details and personal information once you have handed them over: bank fraud, identity theft and credit applications in your name.
How the scam works
The text usually reads something like "Royal Mail: your parcel could not be delivered due to an unpaid shipping fee" or "We attempted to deliver your package today. Please reschedule and pay the redelivery charge of £1.45." There is a link that looks plausible at first glance, often using words like royalmail, parcel, redelivery or track, followed by an unusual domain.
Tap the link and you land on a near perfect copy of the real Royal Mail site. You are asked for your name, address, date of birth, email, phone number and card details. The page may even tell you the payment has gone through and the parcel will arrive in a day or two.
At that point the criminals have your full name, address and date of birth, your phone number and email, and your card number, expiry date and security code. That is more than enough to attempt fraud against your bank account, apply for credit in your name, or sell the details on.
The follow up call from the "bank"
The second stage is where most of the money is actually lost. A few days after you have entered your details, you get a call. The person on the line says they are from your bank's fraud team. They know your name, your address, the last four digits of your card, sometimes recent transactions. They can sound calm, professional and entirely convincing. Skilled scammers are trained to put you at ease, and the fact that someone sounds legitimate is no guarantee that they are.
They tell you that suspicious activity has been spotted on your account and that, for your safety, you need to move your money to a "safe account" while they investigate. They may also ask you to read out a code that has just been texted to you, or to approve a payment in your banking app that they will guide you through.
None of this is real. The "safe account" belongs to the fraudsters. The code is the one your bank sends to authorise a payment or a new payee. Once the money is transferred, it is gone within minutes, often moved through several accounts and out of the UK.
Your bank will never ask you to move money to keep it safe. Your bank will never ask you to read out a one time passcode. If anyone tells you they will, they are lying, regardless of how convincing they sound or what number appears on your screen. Caller ID can be faked.
How to spot a fake message
Royal Mail does not send text messages or emails asking you to pay a re-delivery fee. They may send tracking updates if you have opted in or actively tracked a parcel, and where a genuine charge is owed it is almost always customs or VAT on an item from outside the UK. Any text demanding a small payment to release a parcel from a Royal Mail depot is a scam.
Other warning signs: you are not expecting a parcel; the fee is oddly small and specific, like £1.99 or £2.99; the link does not go to royalmail.com when you look carefully at the part just before the first single slash; the message uses urgent language about parcels being returned to the depot or destroyed; or the page asks for far more information than is needed to take a payment.
If you want to check, do not use the link in the text. Go to royalmail.com directly in your browser, or open the Royal Mail app. The real site has a page explaining current scams and listing the wording of recent fake messages. Suspected Royal Mail phishing emails can also be reported directly to phishing@royalmail.com.
Got a text, call, email or offer that feels off? Paste it in below and we will tell you how scammy it looks, the warning signs to spot, and exactly what to do next.
Try our Scam Detector free, here on this site →What to do if you have already entered your details
Contact your bank straight away. Use the number on the back of your card, the one inside your banking app, or the contact details on the bank's official website. Do not use any number that has called you. Ask them to block the card and issue a new one. If money has already left your account, ask them to start a fraud claim.
Change the password on any account that uses the same password as the one you typed in. Keep an eye on your credit file for a few months. You can get a free statutory credit report from each of the three main agencies, and several services offer free ongoing monitoring.
Report the fraud to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or through actionfraud.police.uk if you are in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101. The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign at takefive-stopfraud.org.uk has further advice on spotting and avoiding scams of this kind.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Reporting the text itself
Scam texts can be forwarded free of charge to 7726, a service run by the mobile networks and supported by Ofcom. The number spells out SPAM on an old keypad.
Forward the message to 7726. You may get an automated reply asking for the sender's number, which you can then send in as well. Reports feed into work by the networks and regulators to block the numbers and the websites behind these scams. It will not get your money back, but it helps take the operation down a little faster.
Pass it on
This scam works because it is mundane. A small charge, a familiar logo, a moment of distraction. The people most at risk are often older relatives or anyone less used to spotting dodgy links, so it is worth taking a few minutes to walk family and friends through what these messages look like and what to do if a call follows.
The general rule is straightforward. If a text asks you to pay a small fee to release a parcel, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise. Check directly with the courier through their official website or app. And if anyone rings afterwards claiming to be from your bank's fraud team, put the phone down and call your bank back yourself.
Related warnings
- The Hi Mum WhatsApp Scam
- Fake Bank Fraud Team Calls
- HMRC Tax Rebate Text Scams
- QR Code Quishing Scams
See more recent scams on the Latest Scam Warnings page.
Ask Safe from Scams a question
Ask our editorial team a question and we will reply with our advice. Tell us as much about your situation as you can: the more detail you give, the more useful our answer can be.
You do not need to use your real name. Please do not include your full address, phone number, email address, or the names of other people. We may edit or remove identifying details for privacy and legal reasons.
Comments are moderated before publication.