Fake courier, bank and tax texts: how SMS scams work
Scam text messages are short on purpose: a small problem, a small fee, a link. On a phone the address is hard to read and the moment is easy to rush. These are the patterns to recognise.
The short version
- Couriers, banks and tax offices are the most copied senders.
- A small fee or a quick confirmation is the hook. The real goal is your card details or your bank login.
- Check in the official app or by typing the address yourself, never through the link in the text.
- Selling something online? A buyer who sends a link to receive your money is the scam.
The most common versions
- Parcel held: your delivery is waiting for a small customs or delivery fee, or a new address. The link leads to a card form.
- Bank alert: a suspicious payment, a blocked card or an account that needs confirming. The link leads to a fake bank sign-in, sometimes followed by a call from a fake bank employee.
- Tax or fine: a refund you can claim, or a debt or fine to pay today.
- Bill or subscription: an unpaid utility or streaming bill about to be cut off.
- New number: Hi Mum, I lost my phone, this is my new number, followed by an urgent request for money.
- Marketplace seller: a buyer who says they have paid through a courier or payment service and sends a link to receive the money. The page asks for your card details to receive a payment, which no real payment needs.
The signs that give it away
- The link is not on the company's own domain, or it is shortened. Read it as described in How to check a link before you click.
- You are asked for card details to pay a very small amount or to receive money.
- There is a deadline: today, within 24 hours, or your parcel is returned.
- The message arrived from an ordinary mobile number or an email address, not the company's usual sender name.
- You were not expecting a parcel, a refund or a fine.
What to do
Do not tap the link
If you want to check the link, press and hold it to copy it, then paste it into the scan box below.
Check at the source
Track the parcel in the courier's app or site with the tracking number from your order, open your banking app, or sign in to the tax portal by typing its address.
Report and delete
Block the number and report the message as spam in your messaging app. In Romania you can also report it to DNSC on 1911.
If you already entered details
Call your bank on the number on your card and follow I clicked a phishing link: what to do now.
Check a link now, free
Paste the link you are unsure about. It opens in an isolated browser on our side, never on your device, and you get a verdict with the evidence behind it. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Do real couriers ever ask for customs fees by text?
- Some do, for international parcels. The safe way is the same either way: never pay through the link in the text. Open the courier's official app or site, enter your tracking number, and pay there if a fee really is due.
- How did the scammers get my number?
- Usually they did not choose you. Scam texts are sent to huge lists of numbers, many from old data leaks, and only need a few people who happen to be expecting a parcel.
More guides
Eight quick checks to tell a real link from a phishing link: see the real address, read the domain the right way, spot lookalikes, and scan it for free.
Clicked a phishing link or typed your password into a fake page? The steps to take right now, depending on what happened, in the order that limits the damage.
A 30-second checklist for suspicious emails: the real sender, the pressure, the links, the attachments and the request. Plus what to do when you find one.