Parcel fees, parking fines and tax refunds: fake "you owe us" messages

A text says a parcel is waiting for a £1.99 fee. Another says you have an unpaid parking charge and the link looks like gov.uk. An email says HMRC owes you a refund. These "small fee" and "small refund" messages are the most common scam messages in the UK, and they're designed to get your card details, your bank login, or a one-time passcode.

Why they work

The amount is tiny, so you don't think hard. The branding is copied perfectly. There's a deadline. And once you've typed your card details into the fake page, criminals either spend on your card or, more often, phone you the next day pretending to be your bank's fraud team, "about the suspicious payment", to talk you into moving your money. See impersonation scams.

Parcel and delivery messages

• Royal Mail only asks for a payment by email or text for a customs charge on an international item, and it also puts a grey "Fee to pay" card through your door. It doesn't text you about "shipping fees", "redelivery fees" or "address problems".
• Evri, DPD, DHL, UPS, Amazon and others are copied constantly. If you're expecting something, check in the retailer's order page or the courier's own app, typed in yourself, never through the link.
• Not expecting a parcel? Then it's a scam. Delete it.

Parking fines and penalty charges

• Councils don't text penalty charge notices. Real PCNs are put on your windscreen or posted to the registered keeper's address from DVLA records.
• Scam texts use fake gov.uk lookalike sites, threaten licence points, court action or "credit score damage", and give you a day or two to pay.
• If you think a fine could be genuine, look up the council or parking company yourself and check with the reference number on your paper notice.
• DVLA doesn't text about vehicle tax refunds or "failed payments" with links. Check your vehicle tax at gov.uk, typed in by hand.

HMRC and tax refunds

• HMRC never asks for bank or card details by text or email to pay a refund. Genuine refund texts and emails from HMRC don't contain links; they tell you to log in to your own tax account or that a letter is coming.
• HMRC doesn't message you on WhatsApp about refunds, penalties or arrests, and it never threatens arrest or asks for payment by gift card, voucher or crypto.
• Check any message against HMRC's own lists of genuine contacts on gov.uk, and report fakes there. Suspicious HMRC texts can be forwarded to 60599.

Other "small payment" favourites

• TV Licensing "your payment failed" emails.
• Energy bill rebates and cost-of-living payments you have to "apply" for. Government payments are automatic; you never apply via a text link.
• "Your subscription has been renewed for £399" (Norton, McAfee, Microsoft, Amazon). Phoning the number to cancel leads to a remote access scam.
• Pension and state pension back-payments. Any offer to "fast-track" money you may be owed, for a fee or your details, is a scam.
• Bank "new device" or "unusual login" texts with a link. Open your banking app directly instead.

If you entered your details

Last reviewed: October 2026