Category: Scam Awareness

How to spot fake emails, text messages, and modern tricks calmly and confidently.

  • The “Missing Parcel” Text Scam: Why the Royal Mail Will Never Text You From a Mobile Phone

    ScammerLiar at a desk

    Cast your mind back to a time when the local postie was a permanent fixture of the neighbourhood. They knew your name, they knew which bush to hide a package behind if you were out, and they certainly didn’t send you cryptic text messages in the middle of the night.

    Today, online shopping means our doorbells are ringing constantly with deliveries from Amazon, Evri, DPD, and the Royal Mail. It is a brilliant convenience, but it has also created the perfect hunting ground for modern digital pickpockets.

    It usually starts with a sharp ping on your mobile phone. You look at the screen and see a text message that appears to be completely official:

    “Royal Mail: Your parcel has a outstanding shipping fee of £1.45. To pay this fee and schedule a delivery slot, please click here:www.royal-mail-post-redelivery.com“

    Your brain instantly tries to connect the dots. Am I expecting something? Is that birthday present for the grandkids stuck at the sorting office? Because the amount they are asking for is so small—just a couple of quid—it is incredibly tempting to just click the link, pay the pocket change, and get on with your day.

    Don’t do it. It is a trap designed to bypass your common sense and completely clean out your bank account.

    How the Trap Snaps Shut

    The clever part of this scam is the tiny financial ask. The crooks know that if they texted you demanding £500, you would immediately smell a rat. By asking for £1.45, they disarm your suspicion.

    If you click that link, you will be taken to a website that looks identical to the real Royal Mail or Evri homepage. It will have the correct logos, the right colours, and look entirely professional. It will ask you to type in your address, your phone number, and your debit card details to pay the tiny fee.

    Once you hit submit, two things happen:

    1. They have your card details: They can now go on an online shopping spree at your expense.
    2. The follow-up phone call: A few days later, your phone will ring. A polite voice will say they are from your bank’s fraud department. They will say, “We’ve noticed a suspicious attempt to use your card after you visited a fake Royal Mail website.” They will then use the exact “Visa Security” tactics we talked about before to make you move your money to a “safe account”.

    🛑 How to Spot the Fake Instantly

    The good news is that these text message bandits always leave a trail of clues. You can spot a fake delivery text in three seconds flat by using these three golden rules:

    1. Look at the Sender’s Number

    The real Royal Mail is a multi-billion-pound operation. When they send official text alerts, the sender’s name at the top of your screen will simply say “Royal Mail”. If the text is coming from a random, standard British mobile number starting with 07, it is an absolute fake. The Royal Mail does not hire people to text you from their personal mobiles while sitting in their vans.

    2. Inspect the Website Link

    Look very closely at the blue link they want you to click. Real organisations use short, clean website addresses like www.royalmail.com. The scammers have to invent weird, convoluted variations to trick you, such as www.royal-mail-delivery-fee-update.uk or www.evri-parcel-tracking-redelivery.info. If the name looks long, messy, or has hyphens scattered all over it, steer well clear.

    3. Remember the “Red Card” Rule

    The Royal Mail has a beautifully simple, low-tech system that has worked for decades. If a parcel requires a signature, is too big for the letterbox, or has insufficient postage attached to it, the postie will pop a physical grey or red “Something for you” card through your letterbox. They do not send texts asking for card details to release a package. No card, no problem.

    What to Do If You Get One

    If one of these pesky texts lands on your phone, do not click the link, and do not reply. Replying just lets the scammers know that your number belongs to a real, living person, and they will sell your number to other fraudsters.

    Instead, simply delete it. If you want to do your civic duty and get the scammers shut down, you can forward the text message for free to 7726 (which spells “SPAM” on an old telephone keypad). This sends the message straight to the mobile network providers, who can block the scammers’ numbers for good.

    The Bottom Line

    We live in a world that wants everything done at lightning speed, and scammers rely entirely on you rushing. But a Wise Old Head knows that nothing is ever so urgent that it can’t wait for a bit of calm inspection.

    If you didn’t order a parcel, or if the text looks even slightly fishy, trust your gut. Delete the message, protect your hard-earned pennies, and leave the digital fraudsters empty-handed.

  • The “Visa Security” Telephone Scam: Why It Is Perfectly Polite to Hang Up on a Robot

    Scam Help Advice

    There is a highly sophisticated, sinister piece of tracking technology in the modern world that can pinpoint the exact millisecond you sit down in your favourite armchair with a boiling hot cup of tea and a chocolate digestive.

    It’s called your landline telephone.

    Without fail, the moment your bottom hits the cushion, the bloody thing rings. You heave yourself back up, expecting it to be a relative or a friend, only to be greeted by a stern, robotic, pre-recorded voice.

    “This is Visa Security,” the machine drones. “An unauthorized transaction of £600 to Amazon has been detected on your account. To cancel this payment and speak to an advisor, press 1 immediately.”

    Your stomach instantly drops. You haven’t spent £600 on Amazon. Your brain starts racing: Has my card been copied? Has someone hacked my bank? Before you let that robot ruin your afternoon and turn your tea cold, let’s take a deep breath. Behind that robotic voice isn’t a helpful security department—it is a lazy crook sitting in a call centre, trying to panic you into handing over your life savings.

    Here is how the scam works, and why being “rudely” blunt is your ultimate superpower.

    The Anatomy of the Scare Tactic

    Scammers don’t use complex computer wizardry to steal your money; they use human psychology. They know that if they can make you feel terrified and rushed, your logical brain will switch off.

    If you do what the machine says and “Press 1,” you will be connected to a remarkably polite, professional-sounding bloke. He will claim to be a fraud investigator. He will tell you that your bank account is “under attack” by corrupt staff inside your local branch, and that you need to move your money to a “safe government account” immediately to protect it.

    The moment you transfer that money, it is gone forever. Your bank will struggle to get it back because you technically authorized the transfer.

    🔎 The Three Golden Truths of Banking

    To completely immunise yourself against these phone crooks, you only need to remember three simple facts about how real British banks actually behave:

    1. Banks Never Use Robotic Threatening Calls

    If Barclays, NatWest, or Lloyds detect a dodgy transaction on your card, they don’t send a pre-recorded automated robot to frighten you into pressing buttons. They will either send a text message to your mobile, lock the card quietly, or a real human being will ring you and ask you to confirm your recent purchases.

    2. There Is No Such Thing as a “Safe Account”

    A real bank will never, under any circumstances, ask you to move your money into a different account over the phone to “keep it safe from fraud.” If a bank suspects fraud inside your account, they can freeze it instantly with the touch of a button. They don’t need you to play musical chairs with your savings.

    3. Your PIN is Sacred

    A genuine bank employee will never ask you for your four-digit card PIN, your online banking password, or the little codes generated by those plastic card-reader calculators. Anyone asking for those is a thief, pure and simple.

    🛡️ How to Defeat Them: The “Red Button” Rule

    We were raised in an era where it was considered a social sin to be rude on the telephone. We listen, we say “pardon?”, and we try to be helpful. The scammers rely entirely on your good manners to keep you on the line.

    It is time to unlearn that politeness.

    The New Rule: The moment you hear a robot talking about unauthorized transactions or large sums of money, press the red button on your phone and hang up. You haven’t been rude to a human; you’ve just hung up on a machine.

    If a little voice in the back of your head is still worried that the call might have been genuine, do this: wait ten minutes for the phone line to completely clear (sometimes scammers stay on the line to intercept your next call). Better yet, use a mobile phone instead of your landline.

    Look at the back of your actual plastic debit card. Dial the phone number printed right there, or dial 159 (the official, secure UK hotline that connects you straight to your bank’s genuine fraud team). Ask them if there’s an issue. Nine times out of ten, they will look at your account, tell you it’s perfectly safe, and confirm you’ve just successfully outsmarted a fraudster.

    The Bottom Line

    You didn’t get to this stage in life by letting strangers push you around on your own doorstep, so don’t let them do it down the telephone line either.

    Hanging up on a scammer isn’t rude; it’s a public service to yourself and your bank account. Put the phone down, walk back to your armchair, and enjoy your tea. You’ve earned it, and the grumpy wise old heads win another round.