Is that “unpaid delivery” text before Black Friday a scam?

Is that “unpaid delivery” text before Black Friday a scam?

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注目：うわさの日付はまだ先です うわさの日付： 2026.11.27

うわさ： Ahead of Black Friday (November 27, 2026), warnings are spreading in several countries: texts claiming to be from the post office or a courier say a parcel could not be delivered and ask you to follow a link to pay a small fee or confirm your address.

1. 判定

事実

Yes, an unexpected text about an “unpaid” or “failed” delivery with a link is, as a rule, a scam. The link leads to a fake postal website that uses a tiny fee as cover to collect your card and personal details. In the US this was the most common type of scam text in 2024, and postal services state plainly that they do not ask for card details by text.

Very high: we opened the warnings from the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Postal Inspection Service ourselves, and the Greek post office, Kazakhstan's prosecutors, Spanish police and Malwarebytes researchers independently say the same. There is no evidence to the contrary.

2. 主張と事実

  • «Texts saying a parcel could not be delivered and a fee must be paid via a link are sent by scammers»事実

    Yes. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC): messages about a “problem with a delivery” lead to a site that looks like the postal service’s, and the “redelivery fee” turned out to be a trick to get people’s card numbers. The same schemes are described by the Greek post office ELTA, Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Spain’s National Police and Malwarebytes (fakes of postal services in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands).[1][2][4][5][6][7]

  • «Real postal services don’t ask for payment or card details via a link in a text»事実

    US Postal Inspection Service: USPS texts only come if you signed up for tracking yourself, and they “will NOT contain a link”; tracking is free. The Greek post office ELTA: it does not send texts or emails asking for card or bank account details to deliver a parcel.[3][4]

  • «These texts are especially common before holidays and sales»一部事実

    Partly true. The FTC issued a separate holiday warning about fake delivery notifications (December 2023), and South African media included such texts in a list of Black Friday traps in November 2026. We found no hard data showing there are more of them in November specifically; the scheme runs all year round — 2026 warnings came out in February, March and September.[2][8][4][5][7]

  • «The amount is tiny, so you’re not risking anything»虚偽

    No. The small fee is bait. In the scheme described by Malwarebytes, after a €4.95 “fee” the fake site asks for the card number, expiry date and bank account number; Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office says criminals get bank details and personal data. The FTC: in some cases people were also tricked into giving their Social Security number.[7][5][1]

3. うわさの出どころ

  • FTC (USA) · en

    Holiday warning: don’t tap links in unexpected delivery messages; check the order on the retailer’s website.[2]

  • FTC (USA) · en

    Review of 2024 scam texts: fake delivery messages rank first; in total, people reported losing $470 million to text scams.[1]

  • Spanish National Police · en

    Warning about “parcel not delivered — incomplete address” texts with a link asking for card details to pay a fee.[6]

  • Hellenic Post (ELTA), Greece · el

    ELTA warns about a fake “Package Delivery Notice” with a link and says it does not ask for card details by text.[4]

  • Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan · ru

    Warning about the “delivery for a million” scheme: a missed-delivery text, a link to a fake courier site and a small payment.[5]

  • Malwarebytes · en

    Analysis of a campaign posing as Belgium’s bpost with a €4.95 “customs fee”; similar fakes of postal services in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the US.[7]

  • ≈ Daily Voice (South Africa) · en

    Texts about a “stuck” parcel asking for a fee are listed among Black Friday traps.[8]

文面の変化

  1. Core: “we couldn’t deliver your parcel — follow the link”
  2. → + a small fee: for redelivery, “customs duty” or storage
  3. → + a reason: incomplete address, signature required, deadline “by tomorrow”
  4. → + the name of the local post office or courier: USPS, ELTA, bpost, Correos, Kazakh couriers
  5. → November 2026: the same messages framed as a Black Friday threat

4. メディアの報道

  • FTC (USA)肯定

    Fake delivery messages were the most common type of scam text in 2024; the “fee” is a way to get card details.[1]

  • US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)肯定

    USPS doesn’t send links in texts and tracking is free; forward such texts to 7726.[3]

  • iefimerida.gr citing ELTA (Greece)肯定

    The Greek post office doesn’t ask for card details by text; a “delivery notice” with a link is fake.[4]

  • Informburo.kz citing Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office肯定

    The “delivery for a million” scheme: a fake courier site and a small payment, after which bank details are stolen.[5]

  • Malwarebytes肯定

    Shows step by step a fake bpost site that collects card details and bank account numbers.[7]

  • Daily Voice (South Africa), Coveron (formerly NordProtect)背景

    Include fake delivery texts in their lists of Black Friday scams.[8][9]

5. SNS

  • Text messages and messengers中立

    The scam messages themselves arrive as private texts, so their reach can’t be measured. In November 2026 warnings about them appear as seasonal articles; we didn’t find a single viral post that everyone is sharing.[8][7]

6. 情報操作の兆候

  • Borrowed name to gain trust. Messages in the name of USPS, ELTA, bpost, Correos, Poste Italiane, PostNL (Malwarebytes, ELTA).
  • Time pressure. The Greek fake asks you to pick a delivery option “by February 5”, two days after the “failed attempt” (iefimerida).
  • A small amount as bait. A €4.95 “fee”, after which the site asks for card and bank account numbers (Malwarebytes).
  • A link in a text you weren’t expecting. FTC and the US Postal Inspection Service: USPS doesn’t send links in texts unless you signed up for tracking yourself.

7. 過去の類似したうわさ

  • Calls “from the Social Fund” about compensation for home internet asking for a code from a text

    結果： Also a real scheme: a plausible pretext with the goal of getting access to money.

  • Pressing “1” during a vaccination call will get your phone hacked

    結果： A hoax: pressing a key doesn’t hack a phone. Unlike the parcel texts, the danger there is made up.

過去のうわさとの共通点

  • Scammers hide behind the name of a well-known organization
  • Urgency: “pay by tomorrow” or the parcel will be returned
  • A small amount so people don’t think twice

新しい点

  • This is not a rumor but a real and very widespread scheme
  • It peaks during the shopping season, when many people really are waiting for parcels
  • The fakes are tailored to each country’s local post office

9. どうすればよいか

  • Don’t tap the link in a parcel text. Check your order yourself — in the store’s app or on the postal service’s website, typing the address by hand.
  • No postal service asks you to enter card details or a bank account number via a link in a text for a small fee — close that page.
  • If you’ve already entered your card details, call your bank right away using the number on the back of the card and block it.
  • Before Black Friday, warn older relatives: “parcel not delivered, please pay” is a common trick.

10. 確認できなかったこと

  • We couldn’t open the secnews.gr article on Black Friday 2026 scams — the site blocked our tool.
  • We read ELTA’s own statement as retold by iefimerida.gr, not on the post office’s website.
  • The Coveron (formerly NordProtect) article is titled “2026” but dated September 2025.
  • We found no hard data showing there are more such texts in November than in other months.
  • We found no recent Black Friday warnings specifically from Russian authorities or Russian Post.

11. 情報源

  1. FTC — Top text scams of 2024 (Apr 14, 2025) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  2. FTC — Fake shipping notification emails and text messages (Dec 14, 2023) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  3. US Postal Inspection Service — Smishing · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  4. iefimerida.gr — these texts supposedly from ELTA are a scam (Feb 5, 2026) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  5. Informburo.kz — “Delivery for a million”: Prosecutor General’s Office warns (Mar 14, 2026) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  6. Euro Weekly News — Spanish police on fake undelivered package texts (Oct 25, 2025) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  7. Malwarebytes — Fake parcel delivery messages steal your card and bank details (Sep 18, 2026) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  8. Daily Voice — Think before you swipe: traps to avoid on Black Friday (Nov 2026) · 閲覧日 2026.11.09
  9. Coveron (formerly NordProtect) — Black Friday scams · 閲覧日 2026.11.09

#scams#text messages#parcels#Black Friday#bank card#phishing

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