Fake Delivery SMS Scam: 5 Signs and What to Do

“Your package is held at our warehouse. Update your address within 48 hours.” If you got this text during the Diwali sale rush, delete it. PIB Fact Check has flagged this exact India Post message as fake, and India Post says it never asks you to update delivery details through an SMS link.

Most fake delivery SMS scams fall apart once you know where to look. One of the five signs below is a single letter at the end of the sender’s name, and most people have never noticed it.

⚡ Key takeaways

India Post doesn’t send SMS or emails asking for address updates, payments or personal details through links (PIB Fact Check).
Real business SMS in India now carry a tag at the end of the sender name: -T (transactional), -S (service), -P (promotional) or -G (government), under TRAI rules from May 2025.
A text from a normal 10-digit mobile number claiming to be a courier is a red flag.
Never pay a “redelivery fee” through a link, and share a delivery OTP only at your door with the parcel in hand.
Report suspicious texts on Sanchar Saathi’s Chakshu. If you lost money, call 1930 right away.

Table of Contents

Why Fake Delivery SMS Spike During Diwali Sales

October and November are when most of us are actually waiting for parcels. Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho, gifts from relatives, documents by Speed Post. So a text saying a delivery failed doesn’t feel strange. That’s exactly why scammers send it now.

The India Post version is the most common. Goodreturns reported a message claiming a package reached the warehouse after two failed attempts, asking for an address update “within 48 hours; otherwise, your package will be returned”. The link pointed to a lookalike domain, indiapost-gov-in.one. PIB’s line was blunt: “India Post never sends messages asking customers to update address details for deliveries.”

Amazon sees the same pattern. Its India blog says that of the scams impersonating Amazon reported by customers globally in 2023, two-thirds involved fake “order” or “account” issues, according to Amazon India’s fraud protection page.

a courier handing over a delivery at a front door — Real parcels arrive at your door, not through a link. · Photo: Kampus Production / Pexels

5 Signs a Fake Delivery SMS Is a Scam

1. The sender is a regular mobile number

Companies send bulk SMS through registered headers like “XX-BLUDRT-S”, not from a +91 98xxx number. A courier “update” from a personal number is almost always fake.

2. The sender name has no -T, -S, -P or -G tag

Since 6 May 2025, TRAI rules add a suffix to the end of every registered business SMS header, Storyboard18 explains. -T is transactional (bank OTPs, alerts), -S is service (delivery and appointment updates), -P is promotional and -G is government. A real courier update from a registered sender would usually end in -S.

3. The link isn’t the company’s real website

Look at the domain carefully. “indiapost-gov-in.one” is not indiapost.gov.in. Watch for extra words, hyphens and odd endings like .one or .top.

4. It asks for money or card details

A small “redelivery fee” or “address correction charge” is the hook. The real goal is your card number and OTP. India Post says it doesn’t ask for payments or personal data through links.

5. It rushes you

“48 hours”, “today only”, “package will be returned”. Urgency is there to stop you from checking. Amazon’s advice is simple: pause before clicking links or replying to urgent messages.

💡 Pro tip

Long-press the link (don’t tap) to preview the full address. Better still, ignore the link completely and open the Amazon, Flipkart or India Post app or website yourself to track the order.

Also readStop Spam Calls in India: DND, 1909 and the Settings That Work

Real vs Fake: Quick Comparison

What you see	Real delivery update	Fake delivery SMS
Sender	Registered header, e.g. XX-BRAND-S	10-digit mobile number or no tag
Link	Official domain, or no link at all	Lookalike domain, short links
Ask	Delivery time or OTP at the door	Address “update”, fee, card details
Tone	Plain information	Urgent deadline, threat of return
Matches an order?	Yes, visible in your app	Often no order at all

fake delivery sms: a woman reading a message on her phone — Check the sender tag and the link before you tap. · Photo: https://kaboompics.com/ / Pexels

The Catch: The Delivery OTP Trick

Some scams don’t use a link at all, and this one catches careful people too. A caller says your parcel can’t be delivered or needs to be “rescheduled” and asks you to read out the OTP you just received.

⚠️ Watch out

That OTP may be for a payment, a UPI registration or an account login, not a delivery. Amazon says it never asks for payment by phone and tells customers never to share OTPs or two-factor codes. Share a delivery OTP only face to face, when the parcel is actually in your hand.

Also, never dial a code a caller gives you. Some scams use call-forwarding codes to take over your calls, which our guide on whether your phone is hacked explains.

What to Do If You Get One (or Already Clicked)

If you only got the SMS

Don’t tap the link and don’t reply.
Check your real orders in the shopping app or on the courier’s official site.
Report it on Sanchar Saathi’s Chakshu. It covers suspected fraud by call, SMS or WhatsApp, including KYC, bank and payment-related scams.
Delete the message and block the number.

If you clicked and entered card or bank details

Block your card from your bank’s app or helpline immediately.
Call 1930 or report on cybercrime.gov.in. Chakshu is only for suspected fraud, not money already lost.
Change any passwords you typed on the fake page.
Watch your bank SMS alerts closely for the next few days.

Also readIs My Phone Hacked? 9 Checks for Android and iPhone Users

Our Take: How Worried Should You Be?

✅ Our verdict

Fake delivery SMS are easy to beat once you build one habit: never track a parcel from a link in a text. Open the app or official site yourself, every time. If a message asks for money, card details or an OTP over the phone, it’s a scam.

The TRAI tags help, but they aren’t magic. Scammers can still send messages through WhatsApp or plain mobile numbers, so treat the tag as one check, not the only one. Parents and grandparents are the most likely to tap these links, so forward this to the family group. Our phone safety settings for parents help too.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a delivery SMS is fake?

Check the sender (a registered header ending in -S or -T, not a mobile number), the link (the official domain only) and the ask. Any request for a fee, card details or an address update through a link is a red flag.

Does India Post send SMS to update the address?

No. PIB Fact Check says India Post never sends messages asking customers to update address details for deliveries, and doesn’t ask for payments or personal data through links.

What do -S, -T, -P and -G mean in SMS sender names?

They show the message type under TRAI rules from May 2025: -S service, -T transactional, -P promotional and -G government.

I clicked a fake delivery link. What now?

If you didn’t enter anything, close the page and don’t install anything it offers. If you entered card or bank details, block your card, call 1930 and change your passwords.

Where do I report a fake delivery SMS in India?

Use Chakshu on the Sanchar Saathi portal for suspected fraud messages. If you’ve lost money, report on 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.

The Bottom Line

A fake delivery SMS only works if you tap the link. Check the sender tag, ignore links, and track parcels in the app you ordered from. Take thirty seconds today to show your parents where the -S and -T tags appear on their phone.

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Sources

Fake Delivery SMS: 5 Signs Your “Parcel” Text Is a Scam