Is an email about a package waiting at customs requiring me to pay fees real?
Genuine customs charges are possible but are communicated officially. Email links requesting card details for customs fees are almost always phishing.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026
Explanation
Real customs fees and VAT on international shipments do exist and can be required before release. However, genuine customs notices arrive from your national customs authority (HMRC, CBSA, US Customs) or from your carrier's official customs portal — and they provide a verifiable reference number you can check on an official website. Phishing emails mimic customs notices with urgent language, carrier logos, and a payment link to a fake portal that captures your card details. If you have genuinely ordered something from abroad and a customs fee seems plausible, navigate directly to your carrier's official website using a reference number from your real order — never follow a link in an email.
The genuine existence of customs charges is what separates this from cruder phishing: because international buyers really do get import fee requests, the fake ones inherit believability. The scam page usually asks for full card details, and sometimes follows up with a call from a fake customs or border officer adding threats about seized goods or penalties for unpaid duties. Genuine customs authorities do not threaten individuals by phone over a routine parcel charge, and carriers collect legitimate duties through their own tracked payment systems, tied to a shipment number you can verify.
The verification routine is quick: find your real order confirmation, take the tracking number from there, and enter it on the carrier's official site. Either a genuine customs hold appears against your shipment — with the amount and an official payment route — or nothing does, and the email is answered. If you paid on a fake page, contact your bank to protect the card, and expect follow-up attempts: a working card and a proven willingness to pay small official-sounding fees make you a target for repeat contact.
Common red flags
- Email link goes to a site that is not your carrier's or customs authority's official domain
- No order reference or tracking number that matches a real purchase
- Fee amount seems disproportionately high or low
- Urgency — package returned if fee not paid within hours
What to do now
- Do not click the link — navigate to your carrier's official site directly
- Use a tracking number from your actual order to check for genuine customs holds
- If you entered card details, contact your bank immediately
- Report phishing customs emails to your national cyber authority
Frequently asked questions
How will I know if a customs fee is genuinely owed?
Your carrier will notify you through their official tracking page with a specific reference and the amount owed. You pay through the carrier's portal or at a local customs office — not via an email link.
A 'customs officer' phoned me about unpaid duties — is that genuine?
No. Customs authorities do not phone individuals with threats about seized parcels or penalties. Phone follow-ups are an escalation of the same fraud, using fear to push payment. Hang up and check your real tracking directly.
How do genuine customs fees actually get collected?
Through the carrier's official tracked payment system or the customs authority itself, always tied to a shipment reference you can verify on the official website. If your real tracking number shows no hold, no fee is owed.