Martin Lewis issues warning over fresh Royal Mail text scam
Scam texts and emails ask you to pay for your parcel's delivery
Money expert Martin Lewis has taken to Twitter to issue a fresh warning about a scam text message which requires to pay a fee before a Royal Mail parcel can be delivered to you.
Martin wrote on Twitter: 'Beware. Just had a clever version of the 'pay £1.99 for Post Office Parcel delivery' scam text, aiming to steal bank info.
'The 'fee' isn't mentioned in the text, it talks about "delays in transit" and offers "a date to reschedule". It's only when you click thru it mentions a fee'. (sic)
It comes after a number of Royal Mail related scams have appeared in the past. Back in March last year, Royal Mail themselves sent out a warning to customers, making them aware of scam texts and emails.
A scam text doing the rounds last year read: 'Royal Mail : your package has a £2.99 shipping fee, to pay this now visit.'
This is followed by a link to a fake Royal Mail website, which invites you to enter your details, including account number and sort code.
The text concludes: 'Actions will be taken if you do not pay this fee', however Royal Mail were keen to confirm this is not the case and that if a fee needed to be paid they would post a grey card through your door.
One victim of the scam, Emmeline Hartley, posted a warning after losing all of her money.
After paying the £2.99 charge she was contacted by what she thought was her bank. They convinced her that her account had been hacked and that she needed to transfer money to a new account to keep it safe, but in reality that account belonged to the fraudsters.
While she didn't say how much she lost, Emmeline did admit that she'd transferred all the money she had before realising it was a scam.
Royal Mail have asked people to report suspicious texts using this form.
You can see all of the typical online scams to look out for on the Royal Mail website here.
Why are postage scams becoming more of a problem?
A spokesperson for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said: “This delivery scam is yet another example of fraudsters attempting to make money out of the unsuspecting public.
"Due to the lockdowns, many millions of people rely on product deliveries, so scammers have focused their efforts on this theme.
“Royal Mail will only ever contact you via text or email if a customs fee is due, not for domestic parcel delivery. If you have any suspicions, contact Royal Mail to verify before you click any links or share details."
She added that the public should look out for these scams in various shapes and forms and that fraudsters did not exclusively use Royal Mail branding, highlighting a DPD scam earlier this year.
You can find out more about other Royal Mail scams to be aware of here.
If you suspect a scam, you should report it to Action Fraud, or report email scams by contacting the National Cyber Security Centre by emailing report@phishing.gov.uk.
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