Online shoppers warned over Royal Mail delivery scam

Online shoppers have been warned about scam texts appearing to be from the Royal Mail.

The messages states your parcel has arrived at Royal Mail but you must pay a £2.99 shipping fee before it will be delivered to your home.

It asks you to pay this through the provided link and claims “action will be taken” if you do not pay.

If you complete the form, you’ll then be prompted to enter your credit card details, which the scammers can then use to drain your bank account.

The scam reads: “Royal Mail: Your package has a £2.99 shipping fee, to pay this now visit royalmail-delivery.support. Action will be taken if you do not pay this fee.”

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A statement on Royal Mail’s website reads: “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

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“If you receive a suspicious email or discover a Royal Mail branded website which you think is fraudulent, please let us know by completing our 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”