A text says Royal Mail couldn’t deliver your parcel and you need to pay a small fee. If you’re expecting something, you might tap before you think.
Text message:
Royal Mail: We couldn’t deliver your parcel. Pay a £1.45 redelivery fee within 24 hours: royalmail-redeliver.example
Royal Mail: We couldn’t deliver your parcel. Pay a £1.45 redelivery fee within 24 hours: royalmail-redeliver.example
An invented example, but real scam messages look just like it.
Short answer: Treat it as a scam. Royal Mail says it doesn’t ask for payment for underpaid items by email or text.
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Red flags in a message like this
- A small “redelivery” or “fee to pay” amount
- A shortened link, or a web address that isn’t Royal Mail’s
- A deadline of a few hours
- A request for card details or bank details
- A parcel you aren’t expecting
What Royal Mail says
- It only contacts you by email or text if the sender asked for tracking updates when posting the item.
- For underpaid items it leaves a “Fee to Pay” card instead of asking for money by text or email.
- It will never ask for bank details or passwords, or ask you to enter information on a website that isn’t part of Royal Mail.
If you already tapped, replied or paid
- Typed card details: call your bank and block the card.
- Typed a password: change it and turn on two-step login.
- Lost money: tell your bank and report it to Report Fraud.
Report it: Forward the text to 7726 and email a screenshot to reportascam@royalmail.com. You can also report it to Report Fraud.
Still not sure? Paste it into ScamRead before you reply or pay.