Warning issued over 'insidious' Post Office scam which cost one victim £80,000

An urgent warning has been issued across the UK over a new Royal Mail post office scam targeting unsuspecting Brits.

The warning has been issued by Chartered Trading Standards Institute (the CTSI) who are calling for potential victims to exercise caution.

The CTSI are warning people about a new scam involving text messages urging people to reschedule parcel deliveries which have failed.

Recipients of the text are told their package has been returned to the Post Office depot.

The texts are fake and are created to try and dupe victims out of their hard-earned cash by collecting personal details. One victim reportedly lost £80,000 after being duped by the scam and handing over details to a bogus website.

CTSI lead officer Katherine Hart, in a statement, 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."