Royal Mail text message scam tricks recipients into clicking harmful links

With Christmas right around the corner, we rely on Royal Mail to get our parcels and letters delivered - but this new scam falsely using the delivery service’s name could result in bank accounts being emptied.
Have you received the dodgy text? (Photo: Shutterstock)Have you received the dodgy text? (Photo: Shutterstock)
Have you received the dodgy text? (Photo: Shutterstock)

This is everything you need to know about the new scam using Royal Mail as a front and how to avoid it.

The text

On the customer help centre section of the Royal Mail website, there is a list of email, Facebook and text scams that are currently in circulation - the newest one to be added to this list is a text message that says an item is waiting to be collected by you.

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The text message reads, “There is an item waiting to be collected by [your name]. You took one of the spots on your Currys’ XMAS-list.”

Included in the text is also a link. Royal Mail says that you should not click on any links.

For those that do click on the link, it takes them to a webpage with the Currys/PC World logo on it and a pop up that says, “Approved! Your selected iPhone 11 Pro will be delivered within 5 working days. Please confirm your delivery address and pay a small fee (£2) for insured shipping.”

Underneath the pop up is a button that says ‘confirm’. Clicking confirm will prompt you to give away your home address and debit card details.

Reporting the scam on Twitter

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Lots of Twitter users have taken to the social media platform to let the company know that the scam was making the rounds.

One Twitter user reached out to Royal Mail on the social media platform, tweeting: “@RoyalMail I just had a text on a text message thread that was previously from you, claiming I’d won an iPhone 11 from currys but asking for a ‘£2 payment for shipping’. If, as I suspect, this is a scam, can you please make [people] aware, if it’s legit tell me so I get my phone”

Another wrote, “@RoyalMailHelp scam today. Took me by surprise as it came up from Royal Mail with my name too, but I fear this is a very good scam, it took me to a page that said I won an iPhone 11 with Currys logo/page, then asked for email, then bank details. That’s when I closed it as alarm bells rang.”

“@RoyalMail take it this is a scam? Came from yourselves but looks fake on the link. Don’t know who else got these details from me unless you have been hacked!” Added another user with a screenshot of the dodgy text message.

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The official Royal Mail twitter account responded to these tweets, saying, “Hi, thanks for raising this with us. We’re aware of this SMS and are currently investigating.”

What to do if you receive a scam text

The reason that the scam looks so convincing is that the text message appears in the same message thread if you’ve already had one with Royal Mail regarding legitimate deliveries.

If you’ve received this fraudulent text message, then you should let Royal Mail know by reporting it on their website here.

You can also report it online to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre.