Yahoo News Five-word Royal Mail warning issued to everyone with a phone
Everyone with a phone is being warned about a scam message claiming to be from Royal Mail. Security experts fear many people may fall for the trick, especially if they are expecting to be contacted by Royal Mail.
Households have been told about signs to watch out for meaning a text is likely a scam. The warning has been issued by Lloyds Bank in a bid to prevent millions of its customers being conned out of cash.
They shared an image of a typical scam message purporting to be from Royal Mail saying 'your parcel is awaiting delivery'. It then asks for a payment to avoid the parcel being returned to sender followed by a link.
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Anyone who receives a message like this is urged never to click a link and to delete the message. Another tell-tale sign of a scam is an unfamiliar phone number (such as starting with 07 or +447).
People should always be suspicious of messages like this. Royal Mail and other reputable companies such as Amazon are often used in scams because of the millions of customers who use them. This increases the likelihood a victim is expecting contact from them or has recently used their services, meaning contact may not seem out of the ordinary.
People are reminded always to check before opening a message or clicking any links. Lloyds explained: "A text claims to be from Royal Mail to say a parcel is awaiting delivery. To get it you need to click on a link to pay a fee.
"The link goes to a fake Royal Mail page that wants your personal and banking details. If you’re expecting a delivery, Royal Mail won’t get in touch to ask for your personal or banking details.
The banking giant added: "If you get a text like this, don’t click on the link or reply. Just delete it. You can report a scam text for free to 7726."
