Royal mail unpaid delivery fee scam, nearly got me!

Megahurtz400 · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:20

Hey guys,

Little post of warning!

Got a text from Royal Mail. This came from the same "named" number (Said Royal Mail at the top of the iMessage window) that i've had other non-scam texts from them.

The message alluded to an unpaid delivery fee with a tracking number which works fine when entered into the Royal Mail tracking website.

I entered my name and address details, went to the next page (which looks official) where it asked for my credit card details, and then Sort code and account number which made me think twice about going any further, spoke to Royal Mail on the phone and they confirmed it is a scam.

I've always laughed at people who get scammed with things like this, but having a manic day and rushing about it nearly got it! :eek:

Just a warning and to let any elderly or less IT literate people who might fall victim to this!

Rroff · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:22

Loads of people have been falling for it recently

been a few articles about it where people have lost thousands as well.

Ree · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:26

not the same scam but i've had three calls today about my amazon yearly subscription renewal. the second call apparently it had renewed after hanging up on the first call.

Kenai · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:32

I had a text about 10 minutes ago from 'Nationwide' about having set up a new payee (the super generic Mr Adams) and transferred them £250.00. It had a time/date stamp for the transfer as a believable 3 minutes before i received the text.

Other than the fact I don't bank with Nationwide and never have, the only particularly dodgy looking part was the link to cancel it being something like 'help-cancel.com/nationwide', which I can imagine would catch plenty of people out if they were Nationwide customers and panicked about losing £250.

xb8browney · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:33

No had that yet but I've been getting more and more calls about my NI number, and they use a mobile number very similar to mine each time.

Diddums · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:38

Getting scam stuff many times a week now. Yesterday it was a call telling me that my NI number was involved in a scam and was about to be suspended, and then a text later on claiming to be from HSBC asking to confirm a new payee.

Kenai · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:41

xb8browney said:
No had that yet but I've been getting more and more calls about my NI number, and they use a mobile number very similar to mine each

I've started getting these but didn't answer any of them as I figured the chance of a number almost identical to my own being a genuine call was close to zero.

These days I tend to just ignore any calls from a number I don't know - if it's genuine or important, they'll leave a message or contact me by another route.

Rainmaker · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:44

I got a text from 'Royal Mail' yesterday too, from a random mobile number. Mine was because apparently my parcel item was £1.99 short and I could pay the fee at mail.randomdomain.support/RoyalMail...

KIA · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:50

Download Google Messages and enable spam filtering, if it's not already on by default.

The Phone by Google app does something similar in terms of filtering junk calls.

The above should block the majority of incoming spam.

Cooler running · 30 Mar 2021 at 15:55

Megahurtz400 said:
spoke to Royal Mail on the phone and they confirmed it is a scam.

This.

Whenever you get unsolicited communication which makes an appeal to authority, immediately disregard the contact details on that communication and look the real support number up for yourself.

In the rare chance that your bank or post office is trying to contact you, they will tell you direct from the source when you enquire. Phishing scams rely heavily on keeping you within their control, as soon as you drop it and use a different contact method it all comes out.

Megahurtz400 · 30 Mar 2021 at 16:03

Cooler running said:
This.

Whenever you get unsolicited communication which makes an appeal to authority, immediately disregard the contact details on that communication and look the real support number up for yourself.

In the rare chance that your bank or post office is trying to contact you, they will tell you direct from the source when you enquire. Phishing scams rely heavily on keeping you within their control, as soon as you drop it and use a different contact method it all comes out.

Exactly that, it's just the fact it came from "Royal Mail" and was in the same SMS thread as all my other Royal Mail genuine texts, was a genuine tracking number, and I do a lot of purchasing from all over the world for work which nearly got me!

Time to finally move all my everyday spending to a credit card I think, that extra layer of security over debit card and rewards should be worth it!

DXP55 · 30 Mar 2021 at 16:51

I had one a few weeks back and thought what have I ordered - Then realised it was letterbox stuff I ignored it.

Mine was a email.

Rannoch · 30 Mar 2021 at 16:53

Similar text scam using DPD.

XeNoN89 · 30 Mar 2021 at 17:05

Yeh I've been getting bombarded with various scam text messages as well as constant phonecalls from mobile numbers very similar to my own

fredwi · 30 Mar 2021 at 19:18

If some mug falls for this more fool them for not being suspicious of the text in the first place

for one how would Royal Mail have your number in the first place

theone8181 · 30 Mar 2021 at 19:51

fredwi said:
If some mug falls for this more fool them for not being suspicious of the text in the first place

for one how would Royal Mail have your number in the first place

Was just going to ask that. Imo the biggest deterrent against scams is common sense.

fredwi · 30 Mar 2021 at 19:52

theone8181 said:
Was just going to ask that. Imo the biggest deterrent against scams is common sense.

some thing people lack these days

I think they send a letter saying you have to pay x and collect from the sorting office if there is not enough postage paid

builder22 · 30 Mar 2021 at 21:08

had one from 'Driver GOV.UK Licensing Agency - Pay now' the other day...no mention of address or car reg number...proof read by a shoe

We're sorry to let you know that the your vehicle is no longer taxed.

DVLA have been notified electronically about you latest payment for your vehicle tax failed because there is not enough money on you debit card.

We have generated a new invoice, and we suggest you to use a credit card instead of a debit, to avoid any other consequences that might appear in case again won't be enough funds inside..

Dear (my email address)

Remember, if you don't keep up with your payments, we may be forced to cancel your license or pass your details to a debt collection agency.

Please keep this email safe, as it tells you how to update your licence details. If you ever need to change anything, just sign in to your licence.

Yours sincerely,
Rohan Gye
Vehicles Service Manager

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - GOV.UK

there was a 'pay your tax now' link in the email too that didn't copy

Longbow · 30 Mar 2021 at 21:19

I think people could benefit from learning about domains and subdomains. https://royalmail.com isn't https://royalmail.example.com.

robfosters · 30 Mar 2021 at 21:23

Just today apparently someone has ordered a £700 iPhone off Amazon using my card and I haven’t been paying my tax, so there’s an arrest warrant out for me from HM customs.