Major bank tells customers to ignore text from ‘Royal Mail’ for important reason

The high street bank revealed a common example of scam messages that are being sent to customers, including one purporting to be from Royal Mail

Lloyds Bank has sent a warning to households over a common text scam, urging “don’t click on the link or reply”.

The high street bank, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group, flags a number of schemes used by tricksters to target unsuspecting victims, such as by pretending to be Royal Mail, reports Express.co.uk.

Revealing how it works on its website, Lloyds said a text “claims to be from Royal Mail to say a parcel is awaiting delivery”.

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Victims are advised to get it they need to click on a link to pay a fee.

This link takes you to a “fake Royal Mail page that wants your personal and banking details”.

The bank advises customers that if you’re expecting a delivery, you won’t be contacted by Royal Mail asking for your personal or banking details.

Anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted with a text like this is told “don’t click on the link or reply,” and to: “Just delete it.”

Most phone providers are part of a scheme that allows you to report suspicious text free of charge simply by forwarding the message to 7726, The National Cyber Security Centre explains on its website.

If you forward the text, your provider can investigate where the text came from and arrange to block or ban the sender, should it be found to be malicious, it adds.

The fake Royal Mail messages are just one scam the public should be aware of, Lloyds says.

It flags various other techniques criminals use including using messaging apps like WhatsApp pretending to be someone you know, and trying to steal money by telling you about a problem and asking you to send money to a bank account you haven’t seen before.

Potential tactics include asking you to pay a bill, but you may be hit with other tall tales too.

As they don’t really know you a message could begin with something like “Hi mum” or “Hi mate”.

As with other scams, it’s important not to engage when you get a message out of the blue from an unknown number and simply delete it.

“Talk to your family member or friend first – to check if it’s real,” the bank says.

“Call them on a number you trust, like the one saved on your phone”, urging people never to call the number you’ve received the suspicious text from.

You can find out about other common tricks scammers use and how to avoid falling victim to them on the Lloyds Bank website.