Your phone buzzes. "Your parcel could not be delivered. Pay a small fee or confirm your address within 24 hours." It is late October, three orders are in flight, and one might genuinely be late. That is exactly the moment the message is designed for.
The short answer: treat any delivery text with a link and a fee as a scam until proven otherwise. Real couriers do not collect redelivery or customs charges through a text link. Check the parcel in the courier's own app or on the retailer's order page, then forward the text to 7726 or report it through Chakshu.
How the missed-delivery text works
A text arrives from a number or sender name that looks like a courier. It says your parcel is held, your address is incomplete, or a fee is due. There is a link and a deadline. The link opens a page styled like the courier's site, with a tracking box and a tiny payment, often a dollar or two.
That payment is the point. The US Federal Trade Commission found that fake package delivery texts were the most reported text scam of 2024, and that the small "redelivery fee" was a pretext to capture card numbers and, in some cases, Social Security numbers.
The newest twist swaps the fee for a tax. In December 2025 the US Federal Communications Commission warned about texts claiming an order is "stuck in customs" until an import duty is paid. Its advice: legitimate companies tell you up front if extra fees apply, and tracking details that do not match your order are a giveaway.
What the official counts say
Text scams look small next to investment fraud, but texts get opened: an FTC consumer alert noted open rates as high as 98 percent. The table pulls together the most recent dated figures.
| Where | Figure | Who counted it |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 3 million fraud reports and $15.9 billion in reported losses in 2025; texts were the contact method in 7 percent of loss reports | FTC testimony, March 2026; FTC Data Spotlight, April 2026 |
| United States | $470 million lost to text scams in 2024; package delivery the most reported text scam | FTC Data Spotlight, April 2025 |
| United Kingdom | Delivery scam ranked first of ten scam types, seen by 68 percent of people; 15.9 million scam texts blocked by one network, July to September 2026 | Virgin Media O2 Scam Index, Q3 2026 |
| India | 5,19,662 suspected fraud communications reported to Chakshu in 2025, up from 2,08,224 in 2024; 1.31 lakh SMS templates blocked | Rajya Sabha reply, 5 February 2026 |
None of these is a count of delivery texts alone. But the UK index names delivery scams as the type most people have seen, and the FTC puts parcel texts at the top of the text-scam pile. The economics are brutal: one card number per thousand texts still pays for the whole blast.
How to check a delivery for real
The routine takes about a minute and works for any courier.
- Do not tap the link. Not even to look. The page will be convincing; that is its job.
- Find the order first. Open the shop's app or website, go to your orders, and read the tracking number and courier name there.
- Type the tracking number into the courier's own app or site. If the parcel is genuinely held, the status will say so, with a real way to fix it.
- Remember who never texts you links. The US Postal Inspection Service says USPS texts only if you asked for tracking, and never with a link. PIB Fact Check says India Post never asks you to update your address by message.
- Treat any fee as a stop sign. A courier may owe you a visit; you never owe it a card payment through a text.
How to report one
Forwarded texts are how networks spot a campaign and block the numbers behind it. Each route takes under a minute.
| Country | Forward or file | If money has already gone |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Forward the text to 7726, then file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; USPS lookalikes also go to spam@uspis.gov with a screenshot of the sender number and date | Call your card issuer and dispute the charge |
| United Kingdom | Forward the text to 7726; Ofcom confirms it is free and lets your provider investigate and block the number | Contact your bank |
| India | Report the SMS, call or WhatsApp message through Chakshu on Sanchar Saathi within 30 days | Call 1930 or use cybercrime.gov.in |
To forward on an iPhone, press and hold the message, tap More, then the arrow. On Android, press and hold, then Forward. WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal messages usually cannot go to 7726, so use the app's own report button.
If you already tapped
Tapping alone is rarely fatal; entering details is the problem. Typed a card number? Call the issuer now and ask for a replacement. Typed a password you reuse? Change it everywhere, and consider moving that account to a passkey, which cannot be phished by a lookalike page. Approved an OTP? Tell the bank immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Couriers do send real tracking texts. How do I tell them apart?
Real texts match an order you placed, name the courier you expected, and never ask for payment through a link. Ignore the link and check in the courier's app; if it shows nothing wrong, the text was fake.
Why do the scam texts spike at this time of year?
Because real delivery texts do. From late October to January most households have several parcels moving at once, so a fake "held parcel" message blends in. The FCC's delivery and customs warning landed in mid-December 2025 for exactly that reason.
So this season, one rule: no link, no fee, ever. Check the parcel where you ordered it, forward the fake to 7726 or Chakshu, and get on with your shopping. The scammer is counting on you being busy. Be busy somewhere else.
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