Delivery Text Scams in Canada: Canada Post, UPS, FedEx
A text saying your parcel is on hold until you pay a small fee is almost always a scam. Canada Post says it never texts to request card details, logins or payment for delivery, and FedEx and UPS say the same. Check the link's domain: real tracking links use canadapost-postescanada.ca, ups.com, fedex.com or purolator.com.
The parcel-fee text pattern
Delivery scam texts follow a short template:
- A courier name: Canada Post, UPS, FedEx, Purolator or a generic “Customs”.
- A problem: the parcel is on hold, the address is incomplete, a delivery attempt failed or a customs fee is unpaid.
- A small amount to pay, often a few dollars, so it seems not worth questioning.
- A link to “reschedule”, “update your address” or “pay now”, usually with a deadline.
Canada Post describes this exact message on its fraud page: a delivery put on hold because of unpaid shipping fees, with a link to pay. The fee is not the goal. The page behind the link asks for your card number, expiry date and security code, and sometimes your online banking login.
Does Canada Post send text messages?
Yes, but only if you signed up for tracking notifications. Canada Post says legitimate texts come from 272727 or 55555, and its customer support may contact you from 613-734-1002 or 613-734-1004. It never texts to request credit card or banking information, account login details or payment for delivery or tracking.
UPS says communications asking for personal information or payment before you receive a package are fraudulent. FedEx says it never requests payment or personal information in exchange for releasing a package.
How to check the link domain
Scam links rely on you glancing at the start of the address. Read it properly instead:
- Find the part between “https://” and the first “/” that follows.
- Read that part from the right. The domain that counts is the name just before the ending (.ca, .com).
- Compare it with the official list below.
In canadapost-postescanada.ca/track, the domain is canadapost-postescanada.ca, which is Canada Post. In canadapost.ca.parcel-help.example/pay, the domain is parcel-help.example, which is not, even though it starts with “canadapost”. FedEx lists misspellings such as fedx.com and fed-ex.com as typical warning signs. A shortened link that hides the destination is a reason not to tap at all.
Can I check a link without opening it?
Yes. Read the domain in the text of the message instead of tapping, then paste only that domain into TrustOrNah’s email and domain check. It shows when the domain was registered, whether it can receive mail and whether it imitates a courier brand. Scam domains are often only days or weeks old.
The real tracking domains
| Courier | Official domain | What the courier says |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Post | canadapost-postescanada.ca | Texts only from 272727 or 55555 if you signed up |
| UPS | ups.com | A real UPS contact can give a tracking number you can verify on ups.com |
| FedEx | fedex.com | Forward suspicious messages to abuse@fedex.com |
| Purolator | purolator.com | Track and update addresses only on purolator.com |
Canada Post emails can also come from subdomains of canadapost-postescanada.ca, such as notifications.canadapost-postescanada.ca, and its claims team uses canadapost.ca. Anything ending in a different domain is not Canada Post.
The safest way to check a delivery is to skip the message entirely. Open the courier’s app or type its address yourself, and enter the tracking number from the seller’s order confirmation.
When the same scam arrives by email
The parcel-fee scam also comes by email, with the same story and a nicer layout. The check is the same: read the domain after the @ in the sender address, then the domain in each link.
Canada Post lists donotreply-nepasrepondre@notifications.canadapost-postescanada.ca as one of its real sending addresses. FedEx says a real email comes from an address ending in @fedex.com and that you should never open a link that does not point to fedex.com. UPS suggests hovering over a link to see where it really goes, and treating numbers in place of letters, odd abbreviations and slight misspellings in the address as warning signs.
Display names, logos and tracking-style reference numbers prove nothing, because anyone can copy them. An email that asks for a card number to release a parcel fails the courier’s own rules no matter how real it looks.
What to do now
- Do not tap links in unexpected delivery texts or reply to them.
- Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads), as Canada Post recommends, then delete it.
- Check the parcel by typing the tracking number on the courier’s own site.
- If you entered card details, call your bank and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.