Trading Standards has warned of an “insidious” new scam that appears to be a Post Office ‘failed delivery’ text.

The texts claim that the recipient’s parcel delivery failed and has been returned to a Post Office depot, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said.

The text contains a link to a fake website created to look exactly like an official Post Office platform.

The website asks the recipient to enter their postcode and personal details, supposedly to identify their closest depot and reorganise the delivery.

The Post Office scam text reported by Trading Standards (Trading Standards/PA)
The Post Office scam text reported by Trading Standards (CTSI/PA)

The information requested includes the full name, address, date of birth and phone number, and these details are sent directly to scammers who are able to use them to commit identity fraud.

CTSI said it understood that a victim who submitted their details into the bogus website lost £80,000 after fraudsters were able to access their bank account.

The latest fraud follows a series of related delivery scams which use Royal Mail, DPD, Hermes and other delivery company branding.

CTSI lead officer Katherine Hart said: “This Post Office scam is far more insidious than a similar scam which involved Royal Mail. While the Royal Mail scam explicitly asks for a payment to reorganise a delivery, at no point does this happen in this Post Office version making the communication less suspect and potentially more likely to be successful.

“Scammers could use the information to gain access to bank accounts and other important personal accounts.

“With the pandemic leading to a significant rise in online shopping and deliveries, it is vital that the message about the potential dangers of these scams are shared as far and as wide as possible, especially during this Scams Awareness Fortnight.”