How can you recognize Royal Mail / Evri 'fee due' smishing (UK)?

TLDR

SMS claims a Royal Mail / Evri / DHL parcel has a £1.99 £3.45 customs or redelivery fee, with link to a fake gov.uk style page that harvests card + Verified by Visa OTP. Action Fraud received 168,000+ Royal Mail smish reports in 2023 2024....

How it works

Red flags

Urgent pressure to click, pay, or share codes immediately.
A link or sender that does not match the official organization.
Requests for card data, passwords, OTPs, wallet signatures, or bank transfers.

What to do

1Action Fraud received 168,000+ Royal Mail smish reports in 2023 2024.
2WHAT TO DO: forward to 7726 (free SPAM line); Royal Mail only requests fees via paper card or app, never SMS link.
3IF VICTIM: call card issuer for emergency block + dispute under CRM Code, monitor Open Banking permissions, report to Action Fraud + ICO if data exposed, change online banking password from clean device.

Source

UK-Action-Fraud

Source reviewed by Mythos Forensic Team

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/royal-mail

FAQ

Is Royal Mail / Evri 'fee due' smishing (UK) a real scam pattern?

Yes. Treat the message, call, or payment request as suspicious until you verify it through an official channel.

What are the first warning signs?

Urgent pressure to click, pay, or share codes immediately.; A link or sender that does not match the official organization.; Requests for card data, passwords, OTPs, wallet signatures, or bank transfers.

What should I do first?

Action Fraud received 168,000+ Royal Mail smish reports in 2023 2024.; WHAT TO DO: forward to 7726 (free SPAM line); Royal Mail only requests fees via paper card or app, never SMS link.; IF VICTIM: call card issuer for emergency block + dispute under CRM Code, monitor Open Banking permissions, report to Action Fraud + ICO if data exposed, change online banking password from clean device.

Can LegalAudit check my case?

Yes. Start a free chat and paste the message, link, sender, or payment details for triage.