Mail & Courier Fraud

Fraudsters impersonate police or bank fraud teams by phone, claim your card is compromised, and send a fake courier to your door to collect your card and PIN.

Criminals steal physical mail from letterboxes or communal areas to harvest personal data — account statements, cards, and official letters — and commit identity fraud.

Criminals intercept mailed checks, chemically erase the ink, and rewrite the payee name and amount before cashing or depositing them fraudulently.

Fraudsters intercept checks in transit — often by compromising postal workers, mail facilities, or using fraudulent mail-forwarding requests — and divert them for cashing.

Fraudsters send fake notifications claiming a parcel is waiting in a locker, directing victims to fake websites that harvest credentials or payment card details.

Criminals place counterfeit 'we missed you' delivery cards through letterboxes, directing victims to phishing sites or premium-rate phone lines to 'rebook' a delivery.

Fraudsters redirect parcels in transit to a different address — by hacking delivery accounts, contacting courier support, or intercepting tracking notifications — to steal goods.

Criminals file fraudulent mail-forwarding requests in a victim's name, redirecting all their post to an address the fraudster controls to harvest identity documents and financial mail.

Fraudsters sell fake postage stamps or postage labels online at discounted prices; items sent with counterfeit postage are returned to senders or attract surcharge fees.

Fraudsters advertise non-existent PO boxes or mail-handling addresses, collect rental fees, and never provide any postal service — leaving victims without mail access.

Opportunistic thieves monitor delivery drivers and steal unattended parcels from doorsteps, porches, and communal entrance areas shortly after delivery.

Criminals recruit victims as 'package managers' or home-based couriers, using them to receive, repackage, and reship fraudulently purchased goods to conceal the crime trail.

Fraudulent texts or emails claim a parcel is stuck in customs and demand a small 'release fee' by card, harvesting full payment details for later fraud.

Fraudsters offer heavily discounted or 'buyer-paid' shipping labels generated through fake or stolen-account platforms that later get voided, leaving sellers out of pocket or their parcels undelivered.

Text messages falsely claim a courier attempted delivery and failed, demanding a small redelivery fee that is actually used to steal full card details.

Fraudulent tracking notification emails or texts mimic real courier updates and lead to fake 'address correction' or 'delivery exception' pages designed to steal payment details.

Fraudsters impersonate a business's genuine freight forwarder, sending fake or altered invoices with changed bank details to redirect real shipping payments into criminal accounts.

Fraudsters pose as a courier's insurance or claims department after a real or claimed lost/damaged shipment, harvesting bank details and ID or charging a fake processing fee for a payout that never arrives.

Fake certified mail or legal notices claim a pending court case, debt, or tax matter, pressuring recipients to pay an urgent 'settlement' by phone or online before the issue supposedly escalates.

Fraudulent texts claiming to be from a delivery driver ask recipients to send a small 'tip' through a payment link, which is actually used to capture payment details or account credentials.

A buyer 'accidentally' overpays for an item and asks for the difference to be refunded before shipping, but the original payment is later reversed as fraudulent, leaving the seller out of pocket.

Fake notices claim a local mailbox is being relocated or decommissioned and ask residents to pay a fee or confirm personal details to update delivery preferences, actually harvesting data or redirecting mail.