Help with online security

 
Fraudsters and criminals want to lure you into giving them something which they can use to their advantage.

In a scam email or text message, their goal is often to convince you to click a link (this is known as ‘phishing’). Once clicked, you may be sent to a dodgy website which could download viruses onto your computer, or steal your passwords and personal information.

Over the phone, the approach may be more direct, asking you for sensitive information, such as banking details

Don’t fall for them. If you’re ever in doubt, you can report them to our dedicated team and delete them from your inbox or message / call history.

 
Royal Mail will only send email and SMS notifications to customers in cases where the sender has requested this when using our trackable products that offer this service.

In cases where customers need to pay a surcharge for an underpaid item, we would let them know by leaving a grey Fee To Pay card. We would not request payment by email or text.

The only time we would ask customers to make a payment by email or by SMS is in instances where a customs fee is due. In such cases, we would also leave a grey card telling customers that there’s a Fee to Pay before we can release the item. This would apply either to an international customs fee or to a surcharge for an underpaid item.

• Royal Mail will under no circumstances ask you to send your account details or password via e-mail.
• We will never send an email asking for credit card numbers or other personal or confidential information.
• We will never ask customers to enter information on a page that isn’t part of the Royal Mail.
• We will never include attachments unless the email was solicited by customer and sent from a recognised member of Royal Mail staff.

 
Scams that mention anything about undelivered or held mail

• Unless tracking notifications were requested at the time of posting, we won’t send emails, texts or make phone calls to customers about undeliverable items of mail.
• If we’re unable to deliver an item we’ll always leave a 'Something for you’ / ‘Sorry we missed you’ or ‘Fee to Pay’ card with next steps and more information.
• When the subject of the email may refer to an item of post being held for collection and asks you to call a specific telephone number. We will never email you about attempted delivery of mail items. Do not call the number. You may be charged for a premium rate phone call or asked to enter personal information.

Scams that mention anything about making a payment

• We do occasionally send a text or email to customers to advise we’re holding an item that’s had a customs fee applied.
• The text or email will always provide you with a link to the Royal Mail Fee to Pay site. We’ll also leave a grey ‘Fee to Pay’ card which explains how to pay the fee – this may arrive a day or two after the email or text.
• If you’re concerned that a text or email may be a scam, you can visit royalmail.com/track-your-item to check if the barcode/tracking number provided is correct.

 
Protect your information

Never send sensitive, personal information, security details or credit card numbers by email or text.

Never click on a link in an email if you are unsure about it, especially if it asks for personal financial information like your bank details. Top-tip – hover over a link before you click on it check if the website URL looks familiar or trustworthy.

Make sure you have a spam filter on your email account.

Check if the spelling, grammar, graphic design or image is poor quality. They may use odd 'spe11lings' or 'cApiTals' in the email subject to fool your spam filter.

Make sure you trust and recognise the sender. Fraudsters often use subjects or greetings that are impersonal and general, like “Attention Royal Mail Customer”. They may use a forged email address in the “from” field like "delivery@royalmail.com”. They may even use the Royal Mail logo. None of this guarantees the email has come from us.
 

Beware of fraudulent payment requests

Royal Mail does not handle cash on behalf of third parties.

If you are instructed by any third party websites or contacted by email to make a payment via Western Union money transfer to a Royal Mail account or agent, DO NOT make the payment.

 
See examples of typical scams to look out for.

 
Reporting potential scams

If you receive a suspicious email, text message, telephone call or discover a Royal Mail branded website which you think is fraudulent, please report it to reportascam@royalmail.com.

• For suspicious emails, forward the email to reportascam@royalmail.com, do not click on any links or attachments and then delete if from your inbox.
• For suspicious text messages, please send us a screenshot of the message to reportascam@royalmail.com.
• For suspicious calls or websites, please include the phone number or website address in the body of the email. 

If you have been the victim of a payment scam, you can get a crime reference number by reporting it to your local Police station.

If you have clicked on a link, provided any personal data like your bank account details on a website or over the phone or you’re concerned that you’ve been compromised, you should also report the scam to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre. Please note: Police Scotland (via the 101 telephone service) must be contacted for scams in or from Scotland.
 

To report a spam text forward the text to 7726.

You may get an automated response thanking you for the report and giving you further instructions if needed. You will not be charged for sending texts to 7726.

An easy way to remember ‘7726' is that they are the numbers on your telephone keypad that spell out the word ‘SPAM'. Visit Ofcom for more information.