People are receiving scam texts from unknown numbers that claim to be the Post Office.
These text often have a link that contain viruses, spyware, or ransomware that may be installed onto your mobile phone if you click it.
This scam has been going on for some time now, so many are catching the latest fraud texts out and posting them to Twitter to warn other users.
One user tweeted "Another nasty scam sent as a text message today. Can imagine this would be one people could easily fall for", adding that "it’s @RoyalMail who deliver parcels not the Post Office."
Another pointed out that "There seem to be a lot of Royal Mail/Post Office scam texts going round again."
How to spot scam texts
According to Ofcom, many scam texts have common traits such as:
- A sense of urgency (act now, action needed, etc.)
- Details that don't seem right
- A strange link in the text
But the dead giveaway is the number that the text comes from. If you receive a text from Royal Mail the user ID will likely say 'RoyalMail', same goes for other services that scammers pretend to be, like Amazon, TestProtect, and your bank or building society.
What to do next
If you spot a scam text, do not click the link that the text is asking you to click. It will likely contain malware.
You should report the number to Ofcom who will investigate the scam. You can report the scam to 7726.
The number 7726 was chosen "because it spells ‘SPAM’ on an alphanumeric phone keypad" – making it easy to remember.
in a 2021 study Ofcom research showed that "eight in ten people experienced some form of phone scam" but found that "fewer than two in ten reported them to the relevant authorities."
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