Scam texts and emails are being sent targeting people’s bank accounts.

One of the messages ask customers to give up their personal and bank information by telling them they’ll otherwise fail to have their parcel delivered.  One of the scams is circulating by text and email, which tell people to make payments to make sure their parcels can get delivered.  The text states: “Royal Mail: your package has a £2.99 shipping fee, to pay this now visit.”

Another text message being circulated states a parcel is ready for collection. A link takes you to a fake web site (royal-mail.cloud) where you’ll be asked to make a payment.

For further information have a look at Royal Mail’s website ‘What email / text / Facebook message scams should I be aware of?‘

Advice from Royal Mail 

How to spot a fake email

Check at the top. Fraudsters often use subjects or greetings that are impersonal and general, like “Attention Royal Mail Customer”. They may use a forged email address in the “from” field like “delivery@royalmail.com”. They may even use the Royal Mail logo. None of this guarantees the email has come from us.

The sender, subject and content may change slightly but often they:

• state there’s a parcel waiting to be collected
• ask for payment before an item can be released for delivery
• prompts you to open a link or document
• asks you to send a text message or call a phone premium rate phone number

Protect your information

• Never send sensitive, personal information, security details or credit card numbers by email
• Never click on a link in an email if you are unsure about it, especially if it asks for personal financial information, this might attempt to install malware on to your computer
• Make sure you have a spam filter on your email account

Reporting potential scams

If you receive a suspicious email or discover a Royal Mail branded website which you think is fraudulent, please let us know by completing Royal Mail’s online form. If you have been the victim of a payment scam, you can get a crime reference number by reporting it to your local Police station.

You can also report the scam to Action Fraud , the national fraud reporting centre. Please note Police Scotland (via the 101 telephone service) must be contacted for scams in or from Scotland.