--- title: "Fake Delivery Text? USPS, Evri, Royal Mail | Scam Lantern" description: "Missed delivery or redelivery fee text? See the web addresses USPS, Royal Mail, Evri and 6 more carriers use, what they never do, and check the link." url: https://scamlantern.me/fake-delivery-text/ --- Fake delivery text checker # Missed delivery text: real carrier or scam? If a parcel text asks you to **pay a fee, update your address or reply to make a link work**, treat it as fake. USPS says its tracking texts only come if you asked for them and never contain a link. Royal Mail and Canada Post say they don’t ask for payment for a delivery by text, and Evri’s texts only ever link to evri.com. Pick the carrier below to see its real web addresses and rules, and paste the link to see where it really goes. ## How fake delivery texts work The message says a parcel couldn’t be delivered, is on hold for an unpaid fee, or needs your address confirmed, and gives you a link. Canada Post describes a typical one: a delivery “on hold due to unpaid shipping fees” and a link to pay so it can be released. The page behind the link copies the carrier’s look and asks for your card details or personal information. Canada’s Anti-Fraud Centre says these messages often look like a receipt, a delivery notification or something urgent, and Royal Mail lists shortened links such as bit.ly and unfamiliar web addresses among the common signs. They work because so many of us are expecting a parcel. If you’re shopping for US Thanksgiving on Thursday 26 November 2026, for Black Friday or for Christmas, you probably are too. Canada’s Anti-Fraud Centre puts fake shipping messages on its list of the twelve frauds of the holidays. Real fees are asked for on paper or on the carrier’s own site. A text with a fee and a link is the scam’s whole business model. ## What the real carriers say - **USPS** only texts or emails you if you asked for tracking with a tracking number, and those texts don’t contain a link. Report fakes to spam@uspis.gov. - **Royal Mail** only texts or emails if the sender asked for tracking. For an underpaid item it leaves a grey “Fee to Pay” card; it may also text about customs charges if the sender gave your details. It never asks for bank details or passwords. - **Evri** texts come from the sender name “Evri” and only link to its tracking page on evri.com. It never asks you to reschedule or pay by text. - **Canada Post** leaves a delivery notice card and only texts from 272727 or 55555 if you signed up. It never texts to ask for payment. - **Australia Post** is taking links out of its tracking texts, and never asks for a payment you aren’t expecting. - **An Post** never sends a link asking for payment for a parcel, and never charges to redeliver. - **FedEx** never asks for payment to release a package. The exception it names is duties and taxes on an international parcel, which you can check in its Import Tool. - **UPS** says a real UPS contact can always give you a tracking number to check on ups.com, and that you should never pay by wire, money order, gift card or cash. - **DHL** only links to its own websites, such as dhl.com, and never emails from free services like Gmail. ## How to use the checker Choose the carrier the text names. The card shows that carrier’s web addresses and its own rules, taken from its fraud page on 5 November 2026. Paste the link and the checker finds its registrable domain, the part someone actually owns, and compares it with that carrier’s addresses. A link that starts with “usps.com” but carries on to another name is flagged, because the website it opens is the other name. A shortened link is flagged because it hides where it goes. Even a link to the carrier’s real website is safest typed in yourself. Track the parcel in the carrier’s app or on its website: Canada Post calls that the safest way to see whether any fee, such as duty and taxes, is really due. ### “Win a gift card” quizzes and parcel surveys Survey and prize pages want your email address, and Australia Post warns that spammers use tricks such as “unsubscribe” buttons to check which addresses work, then send even more. If you want to try a one-off giveaway from a company you trust, a temporary inbox from [CleanTempMail](https://cleantempmail.com/) (no sign-up, emptied after three days) keeps your main address off its list. Never use it for banks, orders, deliveries or reports: use your real address for those. ## If you paid a “redelivery fee” or typed in your details 1. **Call your bank or card company now,** using the number on your card. Tell them the payment was a scam and ask them to stop the card. 2. **Report the text:** forward it to 7726 in the US, UK or Canada, and send it to the carrier’s own reporting address on its card above. 3. **Report the loss:** see our [report page](https://scamlantern.me/report-a-scam/) for your country. 4. **Change any password** you typed into the fake page. ## Common mistakes - **Trusting the sender name.** Australia Post warns that criminals can set a text’s sender name to look like theirs. - **Replying “STOP”.** Canada Post says not to reply, even when the message tells you to. - **Paying because the fee is tiny.** Canada Post says these messages are an attempt to collect your information to commit fraud; the small fee is how they get your card details. A real parcel that never arrived from an online shop is a different problem: [Foxglove Goods](https://foxglovegoods.shop/) has delivery complaint letters and a fake shop checklist. ## Questions **Is the USPS text about my package real?** If it has a link and you didn’t ask USPS for tracking texts, no. The US Postal Inspection Service says USPS only texts if you requested tracking with a tracking number, and those texts won’t contain a link. **Does Royal Mail text you to pay a fee?** Not for an underpaid item: Royal Mail leaves a grey “Fee to Pay” card. It may text or email about customs charges if the sender gave your details. It never asks for bank details or passwords by text. **Is the Evri text asking me to reschedule real?** No. Evri says its texts never ask you to reschedule a delivery or pay to do so, and only link to its tracking page on evri.com. **I paid a redelivery fee from a text. What do I do?** Call your bank or card company now on the number on your card, and tell them it was a scam. Then report the text to 7726 and to the carrier, and report the loss in your country. **Where do I report a fake delivery text?** USPS: spam@uspis.gov. Royal Mail: reportascam@royalmail.com. DHL: phishing@dhl.com. Australia Post: scams@auspost.com.au. In the US, UK and Canada, also forward it to 7726. ## Sources Every carrier page checked on 5 November 2026. - US Postal Inspection Service: [Smishing: package tracking text scams](https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/smishing-package-tracking-text-scams). - UPS: [Protect yourself from fraud and scams](https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/legal-terms-conditions/fight-fraud.page). FedEx: [How to recognize and help prevent fraud](https://www.fedex.com/en-us/report-fraud.html). DHL: [Fraud awareness](https://www.dhl.com/us-en/home/footer/fraud-awareness.html). - Royal Mail: [Scam advice](https://www.royalmail.com/help/scam-protection). Evri: [Cyber security](https://www.evri.com/cyber-security). - Canada Post: [Recognizing spam, fraudulent emails and text messages](https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/kb/company-policies/privacy-security/what-do-to-if-you-get-suspicious-email.page). - Australia Post: [Scam alerts](https://auspost.com.au/about-us/about-our-site/online-security-scams-fraud/scam-alerts) and [Online security, scams and fraud](https://auspost.com.au/about-us/about-our-site/online-security-scams-fraud). An Post: [Security](https://www.anpost.com/Security) (correct as of 29 August 2025, per the page). - Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: [Phishing](https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/scams-fraudes/phishing-hameconnage-eng.htm) (16 January 2026) and [The 12 frauds of the holidays](https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/features-vedette/2021/11/holiday-fetes-eng.htm) (25 November 2025). - US Office of Personnel Management: [Federal holidays](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/) (Thanksgiving Day 2026: Thursday 26 November). - Registrable domains: [Public Suffix List](https://publicsuffix.org/), version 2026-11-04_19-07-29_UTC (subset bundled with this site).