People are being warned to be on their guard against a spate of new Royal Mail text scams.
Halton council's trading standards department issued the warning after a borough resident received one of the fraudulent text messages.
The messages are a phishing scam, which is a type of scam where a text message or email is sent by someone posing to be a legitimate institution or person, with the intention of tricking consumers into providing their personal or banking details.
The scam messages include ones that state there is a package that needs to be rescheduled and asks you to press on a 'bit.ly' link. The link takes you to a scam site asking for payment and should not be clicked on.
The Royal Mail website has examples of the type of Royal Mail scams currently circulating at www.royalmail.com/help/scam-examples
Halton Borough Council's executive board member for trading standards, Cllr Dave Cargill, said: "If you or somebody you know has been caught out by a scam or fraud please contact one of our specialist officers, Linda or Sue on 0151 511 8785 or 0151 511 8775, who are already working with people in Halton who have lost thousands of pounds to scams."
For advice on anything else contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline or 0808 223 1133
