With Christmas creeping up, now is a very timely reminder about the fee
Royal Mail guidance says customers should never pay a certain £2.99 fee. And with Christmas on the horizon, it's useful to go through the advice in detail.
Its official website warns that your information could be stolen or your bank account drained through fraud or phishing. Phishing (pronounced 'fishing') is a scam in which criminals steal your money or identity by tricking you into sharing personal details like passwords, bank details, or card numbers.
Scammers often create fake websites that look genuine, then impersonate a trusted company or someone you know and send messages with links to the bogus site. And Royal Mail is one of these trusted companies.
Do not pay this £2.99 fee
Royal Mail has urged people to never hand over their information in such circumstances(Image: Getty)
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On its website, Royal Mail stresses to never "click on any of the links" in texts or emails and to always "be vigilant if you receive a communication which you aren’t sure about."
In advice about two scam text messages, Royal Mail explains that there's a message that "tells you there's a £2.99 shipping fee to collect your package. Clicking on the link takes you to a fake site."
There's a second text message, also asking for the same fee, that reads: "Text message saying a parcel is waiting for delivery. Please confirm the settlement of 2.99 (£) via a link. Do not click on the link."
Royal Mail scam - report it here
If you receive a suspicious email, text message, telephone call or discover a Royal Mail-branded website which you think is a scam, Royal Mail ask that you report it to reportascam@royalmail.com.
For suspicious emails, forward the email to reportascam@royalmail.com. It asks people "do not click on any links or attachments and then delete it from your inbox."
For suspicious text messages, send the Royal Mail a screenshot of the message to reportascam@royalmail.com. For suspicious calls or websites, include the phone number or website address in the body of the email.
Report potential scams for free - here's how
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) explains: "Most phone providers are part of a scheme that allows customers to report suspicious text messages for free by forwarding it to 7726. If you forward a text to 7726, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and arrange to block or ban the sender, if it’s found to be malicious."
If 7726 doesn’t work, you can find out how to report a text message by contacting your phone provider. You can also take a screenshot or screen recording of the message and send it to the NCSC at report@phishing.gov.uk.
Royal Mail also ask people to contact this number. It adds: "An easy way to remember ‘7726' is that they are the numbers on your telephone keypad that spell out the word ‘SPAM'."
Reporting a suspicious text is free and only takes a minute. By reporting, the NCSC stresses that you can:
Reduce the amount of scam texts you receive
Make yourself a harder target for scammers
Protect others from cyber crime online
It adds: "40.9K scams removed across 93.3k URLs as of July 2026 as part of the 7726 service."
I think I've been scammed - what do I do?
If you've responded to a scam text message or think you’ve lost money or have been hacked as a result of responding to a suspicious phone call, you should report it.
If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, visit https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/ or call 0300 123 2040. If you live in Scotland, report it to Police Scotland by calling 101.