How to spot a scam text (Royal Mail, HMRC, bank) and what to do
If you've had a text about a "missed parcel," a "tax rebate," or your bank asking you to "verify a payment," you're not imagining the sudden flood of these — scam texts impersonating trusted names are extremely common, and they all rely on the same trick: making you panic or get excited enough to click before you think. Here's how to actually tell the difference, and what to do either way.
The Royal Mail "redelivery fee" text
This one usually says a parcel is being held and asks you to pay a small "redelivery" or "customs" fee — often just a couple of pounds — through a link. It's a scam designed to steal your card details, and the small amount is deliberate: it feels too minor to be worth questioning.
Royal Mail does not request payment by text message. If a parcel genuinely needs a fee (for customs charges, for example), Royal Mail's real process is to leave a physical card at your address, or contact you by email or text only if you've specifically opted into tracked delivery notifications for that parcel. If you weren't expecting a delivery, or the text doesn't match a tracking number you recognise, treat it as fake.
What to do: Don't click the link. Forward the text to 7726 (free, on every UK mobile network — it spells "SPAM" on a keypad) to report it, and you can also email the details to Royal Mail's own scam-reporting address, reportascam@royalmail.com.
The HMRC "tax rebate" text
This one claims you're due a tax refund and asks you to click a link to "claim" it, usually requesting bank or card details. This is one of the clearest scams to spot once you know one simple fact: HMRC will never send a notification of a tax rebate, or ask you to disclose personal or payment information, by text message. Full stop — not sometimes, never. The same applies to emails: HMRC will only ever email you about a rebate, or ask for personal or payment details, from an address ending in hmrc.gov.uk.
If you genuinely think you might be owed tax back, the real way to check is your free Personal Tax Account on gov.uk, or the HMRC app — never a link from a text message, however official it looks.
What to do: Forward a suspicious HMRC text to 60599 (HMRC's own number for this), or a suspicious email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. A suspicious HMRC-branded social media account can be reported to branddefence@hmrc.gov.uk. Then delete it.
Check for a real tax refund with Refund Checker → — it only ever links to official gov.uk, NS&I and similar services, never asks for your bank details, and never texts you.
The bank "suspicious payment" text
This one is more convincing because it often comes right after you've genuinely made a purchase, and it pushes you to call a number or click a link "to verify" a payment — which actually connects you to the scammer, or takes you to a fake login page that steals your details. Sometimes it escalates to a phone call where someone claiming to be from your bank's fraud team asks you to move your money to a "safe account." No genuine bank will ever ask you to do that.
What to do: Don't use any number or link from the text itself. Instead, hang up or ignore it, and dial 159 — a free, UK-wide number that connects you directly and safely to your bank's own fraud team (most major banks support it). If in doubt, 159 is genuinely the fastest way to check whether something's real before you act.
The pattern behind all three
Once you've seen a few of these, the shared pattern becomes obvious: a trusted name, a small urgent action, and a link or number that routes to the scammer rather than the real organisation. Genuine organisations essentially never need you to act within minutes, and they don't ask for passwords, PINs, or full card details by text.
Contact your bank immediately using the number on your card or their official app (not anything from the suspicious message) — call 159 if you're not sure. Then report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk, or by calling 0300 123 2040. This replaced the older "Action Fraud" service in late 2025/early 2026, so if you've heard of Action Fraud, this is the service that took over.
A one-line version of all of this
Royal Mail doesn't text you for fees, HMRC never texts about rebates or asks for bank details, and your bank will never ask you to move money "to be safe" — when in doubt, go directly to the real app or website yourself rather than tapping anything in the message.