Martin Lewis has issued a fresh warning on the Royal Mail text scam and one thing you definitely shouldn't do after This Morning host Eamonn Holmes revealed he'd been targeted.
Money saving expert Martin joined Eamonn and his wife and co-presenter Ruth Langsford on Thursday's edition of the ITV show and offered advice to a viewer who had been scammed but told by her bank that she wouldn't be getting the money back.
After Martin pointed her in the direction the Independent Financial Ombudsman, talk then turned to the Royal Mail scam, which has claimed scores of victims in the UK this year.
READ MORE: Martin Lewis issues advice to people rejected for Universal Credit
Fraudsters attempt to get personal details from mobile phone users by sending them a text in the fake guise of the Royal Mail, telling them they have a parcel which needs to be paid for.
Reading Martin the text he received before This Morning went on air, Eamonn said: "It says your package has been held and not been delivered due to a £1.99 unpaid shipping fee.
"To pay this now visit...and then they say deposit/delivery fee.com."
He then added: "No idea! Who do you phone? Who do you get in touch with?"
Well aware of the scam already, Martin hastily replied: "That's the scam. That is a very well known scam. It's not just Royal Mail, it's DPD and other delivery companies.
"When they get you to pay that charge, you're effectively going to give them your bank details and it's a route into scamming you.
"Certainly, unless you absolutely are sure you've ordered a parcel and it's coming from that company, do not touch those texts that ask you to pay.
"They deliberately do a small amount of money so people think it isn't much to catch them and bring them in."
Seeking more clarification, Ruth asked of people should just delete such a text if they receive it, to which Martin offered another bit of advice NOT to reply to the text at all.
"It's actually really interesting. If you get a message from a legitimate company and you want it to stop contacting you, you can message back 'STOP' and that's the right thing to do.
"But if you get a message from an illegitimate company or a scammer, texting back STOP tells them that it is a real phone number and there's a person there, so just delete it."
See the latest news in your area by receiving email updates
