What does a genuine notification from An Post about a delivery look like?

Brendan Burgess

Founder
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Update and summary:
An Post does send texts to notify you of a planned delivery. These texts do include links.
But it never sends texts with links asking for payment.


I got this text just now from


I presume it's a scam as I am not expecting anything. I did buy something from an online retailer which has a presence in Ireland and offered me click and collect which I did not avail of. Initially I thought it might be that.

Brendan
 
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Here is the genuine AnPost page

Pay Customs Charge

An Post offers a range of options for receiving post including AddressPal, Click & Collect and DeliveryBox as well as redirection and redelivery services
www.anpost.com
 
I get these by SMS from AnPost:
"Item XXXXXXXX is due for delivery on the next working day. Alternative delivery options here pm.anpost.com/XXXXXXXXX/XXXXXX"
 
Now I remember. In previous genuine cases, I got a postcard from An Post with details of the shipment.

Brendan
 
Normally A Post would put the item number e.g. CE94837443IE so I would use the item number to track the item and see if it really does have a fee.

I found a text from A Post from a year ago which asked for a custom charge and in that text they had listed the item number. So your text looks suspect and I wouldn't click on that link.

I have also had scam texts claiming to be from An Post but when I check the details it came from a regular old mobile number which An Post doesn't use.
 

Be aware of scam text messages

Get all the latest news and information about Be aware of scam text messages from our media centre.
www.anpost.com

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Be aware of scam text messages​

30 March 2020

A fresh wave of scams, aimed at tricking members of the public into giving away sensitive financial details, has been hitting a wide range of businesses including us.



The scammers use a number of methods, the latest, like these ones, involve a text message telling customers they have a mail item that is being held because of an overdue payment. The customer is asked to click on a link to have the mail item released. The scams have hit customers, including An Post colleagues, as well as taking up valuable time and resources as we respond to enquiries and tackle the scammers. The texts often carry an An Post logo and are designed to look like a genuine customer contact.

An Post are asking customers to be Scam Aware is they receive these kinds of messages not only from us but also from other businesses and service providers, financial institutions etc. In many cases the layout or language used in the messages are an indication they are not genuine.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I presume it's a scam as I am not expecting anything.
Click to expand...
It's a very obvious scam.

For any legitimate site, the text immediately preceding the .com or .ie should be as you expect, e.g.
anpost.com, DHL.com, ups.com

If that is broken up or modified in anyway then it is not sending you where you think. In this case it is sending you to:
transport-feeshub(dot)com
 
Yesteday I had this email from nfe@controlaonline.com.br. Brazilian domain address was the first clue, but what gave the game away for me was "Your AnPost shipment.." which should be 'An Post'. It's only the website that's anpost. They wanted my card details to take €2.99 - and the rest. I was expecting a few deliveries too, so hopefully no-one gets caught out.


 
When assessing a URL, always pay close attention to the domain name, the bit immediately preceding the first forward slash, and from there back to the dot.

For example, a notice from AnPost will link to xxxxxxx.anpost.com/yyyyyyyy

Scammers will often include the name to make it look legit, but will include it either before the domain name as in the example above, or after the forward slash.
 
As others have said the domain name link is the clearest sign it's a scam. But to be clearer about why this link is suspect, it's best to understand how domain names work. Two things are important
* They are hierarchical and each level is separated by a dot. The highest part is the last part.
* The owner of a higher level by default owns *all* lower levels.

So for "y.x.com" for example ".com is the top level. x is the second level, y is the third level.

Whoever owns x.com, which could be anyone, can create any domain at lower levels. They can create "amazon.x.com" or "anpost.x.com".

However only the owner of anpost.com (which is legitimately anpost) can create "x.anpost.com" or "y.anpost.com".

So when you see a legit name as part of a domain name you really need to consider what part of the domain name it is.
 
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DazedInPontoon said:
As others have said the domain name is a the clearest sign it's a scam.
Click to expand...
No. The clearest sign that it's a scam is that it contains a link in the first place. See my previous post.

But the domain name structure explanation is useful in other contexts where organisations do send messages containing links. Ideally, they should not though.
 
You should report spam sms' to your network provider by forwarding it to their 5xxxx number.

Three - 50035
Vodafone - 50005
Gomo - doesn't have one.
 
So I got another text from An Post which I assumed to be a spam because they don't send texts with links in them.


Then I got an email from them with a delivery update and it's genuine because I did buy an item online.

And the numbers in the text match the numbers in the email.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
So I got another text from An Post which I assumed to be a spam because they don't send texts with links in them.
Click to expand...
It's a genuine text.

They DO send messages with links, just not in relation to customs, i.e. they don't send a link with a request for payment.
 
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I know this is a few weeks old, but recently (last 9 months or so) for customs payment only, I receive an actual addressed letter in an envelope from AnPost with full details for that payment. Has all details on it, which you use to go on to the web to pay. It also has a QR code on it to make it easy.
 
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