Verify a delivery text through your order, not its link
Use the original merchant order and official carrier route to check a parcel before paying an unexpected redelivery fee.
In brief
An unexpected delivery text may claim a missing address or a tiny redelivery fee. Check your real order and carrier independently; the small amount can be a pretext to collect payment and personal details.
A correct-looking name or the fact that you are expecting a parcel does not authenticate the message.
Check the actual shipment
Match the merchant, carrier and reference with your purchase. If no parcel exists, do not pay to “release” an unspecified item. If one exists, inspect its status independently; attackers can exploit the ordinary likelihood that someone is awaiting a delivery.
Do not validate yourself for the sender
Avoid replying with your address, code or card information. Do not install a tracking app from the message. Carrier apps should come from the official supported route, and a support callback should use a number you independently verified.
If information was already entered
Contact the payment provider through its official channel if card details were exposed, and protect any affected account credentials. Keep the message for reporting. The USPIS guidance applies to impersonation of USPS; for another carrier or country, use the appropriate official reporting route rather than assuming the US process applies everywhere.
Before you act
Carrier procedures differ. Do not assume every text is fraudulent, but do not use a new message’s link as the evidence that its claim is genuine.
What to do next
- Open the order from the merchant account or confirmation you already trust.
- Use that order’s carrier and tracking reference through its official app or known website.
- Resolve a genuine delivery issue there, and report the suspicious text without following its payment link.
