Canada Post text says my parcel is on hold and I owe a fee. Is it real?
Yes, it is a scam. Canada Post does not text you to collect a fee, and the real tracking page never asks for your card to release a parcel.
A text says your parcel is on hold over a small unpaid fee, usually $3.07, with a link to pay. The link leads to a copy of the Canada Post site that takes your card details. People paste these messages into Google every week to check them, so here are the exact versions we see.
Is this the message you received?
Searched on Googlecanada post: parcel #765476 is on hold - $3.07 border fee unpaid. pay by 10pm to receive it: [link removed] reply stop to opt out
Searched on Googlecanada post: parcel #643553 is on hold. a $3.07 border fee is outstanding. please check [link removed] for payment details. reply stop to opt out.
Searched on Googlecanada post: your parcel #765476 is on hold. $3.07 border fee required by tommorow here: [link removed]. reply stop to opt out.
Searched on Googlecanada post: your parcel #765476 is on hold. $3.07 border fee required by 10pm here: [link removed]. reply stop to opt out.
Searched on Google[canada post corporation] – package on hold notification your parcel is currently being processed. due to an invalid postal code, it cannot be delivered and has been temporarily held. please verify your postal code within 24 hours using the link below. [link removed] (reply y and re-open this message to click the link, or copy it to your browser.)
Reported in CanadaCANADA POST: Your package is currently on hold due to unpaid shipping fees. Please visit [link removed] to settle outstanding balance.
Between waves the parcel number, the deadline (10pm, tomorrow, 24 hours) and the link change. The $3.07 figure, the "reply stop to opt out" line, and the demand to pay through a link stay the same.
How it works
The texts go out in waves, so one often arrives while you really are waiting for a parcel. That timing is the whole trick. The link opens a page that copies the Canada Post design, asks you to confirm your address, then asks for a card payment of a few dollars to release the parcel. The money is not the point. Your full card number is.
Other versions use a different excuse for the hold: an incomplete address, an invalid postal code, or a package "held for security reasons". The excuse changes. The link and the card form do not.
Spelling is a useful tell. One version in circulation says the fee is due by "tommorow". Canada Post does not misspell tomorrow.
What about customs and border fees?
Real duty and taxes on parcels from outside Canada do exist, and that is what makes the "border fee" story work. Canada Post collects those fees for the Canada Border Services Agency at the time of delivery or when you pick the parcel up at the post office, with a handling fee of $9.95 per item. If you signed up for notifications, Canada Post can tell you duty is owing and you pay it on the tracking page at canadapost.ca or in the app. There is no $3.07 border fee, and no fee is ever paid through a link in an unexpected text.
How the real Canada Post contacts you
Canada Post says its text messages only ever show the sender as 272727 or 55555, and only if you signed up to receive delivery notifications. Customer support may also text from 613-734-1002 or 613-734-1004. A text from any other ten-digit number is not from Canada Post.
It will never text you to request credit card or banking information, or payments for deliveries or tracking, and it will not charge you to track or release a delivery. If duty is owing on a parcel, you pay it at the door, at the post office, or on the real tracking page that you open yourself.
Source: Canada Post: recognizing spam and fraudulent texts
Does Canada Post send text messages?
Only if you signed up for delivery notifications, and only from 272727 or 55555. Those texts never ask for a payment or card details. A text from a ten-digit number, or one with a fee to pay through a link, is not from Canada Post.
What to do
- Delete the text. Canada Post never charges a fee by text to release a delivery.
- Track parcels only through canadapost.ca typed into your browser, the Canada Post app, or the retailer’s own order page.
- If you entered card details, call the number on the back of your card right away and ask them to block the card.
- If you tapped the link, entered details or paid: here is exactly what to do next, step by step.
- Report the text by forwarding it to 7726 (SPAM). How to do that on iPhone and Android.
- Got a different message? Run it through our one-minute checker.
Sources
If this has already happened to you, our scam recovery visit can lock down your accounts and devices. And if you are just not sure whether something is a scam, asking us is always free.