Parcel delivery scam texts
Last reviewed:
A text or email says a courier tried to deliver your parcel and you need to pay a small fee, confirm your address or book a new slot. The link goes to a copy of the courier's website that takes your card details. It is one of the most common scam texts in the world, and it often arrives on a day you really are waiting for something.
What it looks like
BeePost: Your parcel could not be delivered due to an incomplete address. Pay the £1.45 redelivery fee within 24 hours: beepost-delivery.test/redeliver
A made-up example. Every name, number and link here is fictional.
The tell
Couriers don't charge surprise fees by text. A missed parcel waits for you for free, and a card through the door or the courier's own app tells you what happened.
Other signs
- A tiny fee (£1 to £3), so you don't stop to think.
- A deadline: “within 24 hours” or “your parcel will be returned”.
- A web address that isn't the courier's own, often with extra words like -delivery, -track or -redeliver.
- You weren't expecting anything from that courier, or the text doesn't say what's in the parcel.
- The payment page wants your full card details, sometimes your date of birth too.
What to do
- Don't tap the link. If you are waiting for a parcel, open the shop's or the courier's own app or website yourself and use the tracking number from your order.
- Report the text, then delete it.
- If you entered card details, call your bank now. The next step is usually a call from someone pretending to be your bank's fraud team.
If you already replied, tapped or paid
- Call your bank straight away, on the number on your card (or 159 in the UK). Banks can sometimes stop or recover a payment if they hear quickly.
- Change any password you typed in, on the real site, and turn on two-step sign-in.
- Report it (below), and keep the messages and receipts.
- Be careful of anyone who then offers to get your money back for a fee. That is a second scam.
- Don't feel ashamed. Scams are written by professionals and fool careful people every day.
Report it
- In the UK: forward scam texts free to 7726, and scam emails to [email protected].
- Report fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040 (in Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101).
- Elsewhere: your country's police or consumer protection service.
Sources
The advice here follows these official UK pages:
- GOV.UK: Report suspicious emails, websites and texts
- Citizens Advice: Check if something might be a scam
- Report Fraud (police)
Practise spotting it
In Scam Town you get letters, texts and calls like these, decide which are real, and see the tell after every answer. You can also build scams yourself from ready-made pieces, which is the fastest way to learn how they work. It's free and plays in your browser.
Play Scam Town