A former footballer has warned his fans about a Post Office scam after receiving a suspicious text.

Fabrice Muamba, a retired professional footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers, posted the warning to his Twitter account.

He received a text which read: “Post Office: Your package has been redirected to your local branch due to an unpaid delivery fee."

It then asks people to reschedule a delivery by following a website link.

Posting the text screenshot to Twitter, he wrote: “Guys watch out for this number- it is a scam.


“Obviously the mobile number makes that clear but this might help someone that's received a similar message.”

 

 

(Twitter/ @fmuamba6)

One of his followers commented: “The number changes from time to time too.. all of them a scam of course.”

Another wrote: “I get about four of these a day, Fabrice. From different numbers every time, it's so annoying.”

“Yes, my mum got scammed on this yesterday,” said another.

A Post Office spokesperson said they will never send texts about parcels or mail- and they also issued some advice to people who receive a suspicious message.

A spokesperson said: “People are being tricked by fake texts claiming to be from Post Office, but, Post Office will never send texts about parcels or mail.

“This is because Post Office does not deliver parcels or letters.

“Cyber criminals are trying to get people into clicking on links in texts regarding undelivered shipping fees and undelivered items. These scam texts should be ignored. Post Office is responsible for Post Office shops and it is not a company that delivers parcels.

“Post Office is working hard to raise awareness about these fake texts in its name to help stop people being conned and to try to stop its trusted reputation being exploited.”

Royal Mail also issued some advice to the public.

A spokesperson said: "We remind our customers that Royal Mail will only send email and SMS notifications in cases where the sender has requested this when using our trackable products that offer this service.

“In cases where customers need to pay a surcharge for an underpaid item, we would let them know by leaving a grey Fee To Pay card. We would not request payment by email or text.

“The only time we would ask customers to make a payment by email or by text is in some instances where a customs fee is due. In such cases, we would also leave a grey card telling customers that there's a Fee to Pay before we can release the item.”

How to spot a scam- and avoid falling victim to one

According to the Royal Mail website, there are numerous things you can do to avoid falling victim to scams.

Here are some of their tips on how to spot a scam:

  • Check if the spelling, grammar, graphic design or image is poor quality. They may use odd 'spe11lings' or 'cApiTals' in the email subject to fool your spam filter.
     
  • Make sure you trust and recognise the sender. Fraudsters often use subjects or greetings that are impersonal and general, like “Attention Royal Mail Customer”. They may use a forged email address in the “from” field like "delivery@royalmail.com”. They may even use the Royal Mail logo. None of this guarantees the email has come from us.

Here are some of their tips on how to avoid getting scammed:

  • Never send sensitive, personal information, security details or credit card numbers by email or text.
     
  • Never click on a link in an email if you are unsure about it, especially if it asks for personal financial information like your bank details. Top-tip – hover over a link before you click on it check if the website URL looks familiar or trustworthy.
     
  • Make sure you have a spam filter on your email account.

How to report scams

Royal Mail works hard to prevent and detect fraud. They work with UK law enforcement agencies, Trading Standards and other organisations to share information and support robust proactive action against scams.

They report any offending sites and suspicious numbers to the appropriate authorities as soon as they are made aware of them.

If you receive a suspicious email, text message, telephone call or discover a Royal Mail branded website which you think is fraudulent, please report it to reportascam@royalmail.com.

  • For suspicious emails, forward the email to reportascam@royalmail.com, do not click on any links or attachments and then delete if from your inbox.
  • For suspicious text messages, please send us a screenshot of the message to reportascam@royalmail.com. Alternatively, you can forward them to the number 7726- you will not be charged.
  • For suspicious calls or websites, please include the phone number or website address in the body of the email. 

If you have been the victim of a payment scam, you can get a crime reference number by reporting it to your local police station.

If you have clicked on a link, provided any personal data like your bank account details on a website or over the phone or you’re concerned that you’ve been compromised, you should also report the scam to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre.

Have you ever fallen victim to a text message scam?