Scam texts: delivery, bank and “are you busy” messages
Scam texts pretend to come from a delivery company, a toll operator, your bank, a relative, or your boss, and they work because a text message carries fewer clues than an email. In the US, people reported $470 million in losses to text scams in 2024, according to the FTC. The defense is simple: never act on a link or request in a text you did not expect.
How to recognize a scam text message
Treat any unexpected text that contains a link, asks for money, or asks for a code as a scam until you have checked it yourself. Do not reply, do not tap the link, and contact the company or person through a channel you already know. Text scams are part of the scams aimed at small firms, and the FTC’s advice on spam texts comes down to the same three steps: do not engage, report, delete.
Texts are harder to judge than emails. Canada’s Get Cyber Safe suggests one question: would this organization really text me and ask me to act? And Australia’s Scamwatch warns that a fake bank text can even appear in the same conversation as your bank’s genuine messages, because the sender’s name can be spoofed.
The texts that cost the most
In its data spotlight on 2024, the FTC reported $470 million in losses to text scams, more than five times the 2020 figure, and named the five most reported types: fake package delivery problems, fake job offers, fake fraud alerts, notices about unpaid tolls, and “wrong number” texts that start a conversation. Here is what the main types look like, and what the real organizations say.
| Type | What it says | What the real organization says |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | A parcel is on hold; pay a small fee or confirm your address | USPS: its texts contain no link unless you requested tracking. Canada Post: it only texts from 272727 or 55555, and only if you signed up. Australia Post: it never asks for a payment you are not expecting |
| Unpaid toll | You owe a toll; pay now to avoid a penalty | The FBI’s IC3 counted more than 2,000 complaints in April 2024; the FTC and Scamwatch advise contacting the toll operator directly |
| Bank or fraud alert | Suspicious activity on your account; confirm or call this number | The FTC lists fake fraud alerts among the top five; check through your bank’s app or the number on your card |
| The boss | A quick favor: buy gift cards and send the numbers | The FTC: only scammers ask for gift card numbers and PINs |
| A relative | “Hi Mum, I have a new phone” and an urgent need for money | Scamwatch and Police Scotland describe this exact pattern |
The boss text, in a small business
This one targets small teams directly. A text arrives from an unknown number, often with the boss’s name and a short opening like “are you busy?”, followed by an urgent favor: buy gift cards for a client and send the codes. The FTC warned about it in July 2025, with new employees in mind, and again in January 2026. One team rule stops it: no payment, transfer, or gift card is ever approved by text alone. Confirm in person or by calling a number you already have.
Replying “Y” is part of the trick
Australia Post points out a newer tactic: a text that asks you to reply with “Y.” Replying can make the sender look trusted to your phone and activate the links in the message. Do not reply, even to say stop, to a number you do not know.
What to do with a scam text
- Do not tap the link or call the number in the message.
- Report it in your messaging app. On an iPhone with iOS 26, tap Report Spam, then Delete and Report Spam. In Google Messages on Android, press and hold the conversation, then Block, Report spam. Depending on your carrier and country, the report may be shared with your carrier.
- Forward it to your carrier’s spam number. In the US, the UK, and Canada, forward the text to 7726. In Australia, Telstra uses 7226, a short code it says all Australian carriers can use voluntarily; ask your carrier which number to use.
- Report delivery scams to the company if it asks for them. USPS accepts reports at spam@uspis.gov; Australia Post at scams@auspost.com.au; Canada Post says you do not need to report them to it, and points to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and 7726.
- Delete the message.
If you tapped the link and entered card details, call your bank right away on the number you know.
Reporting beyond the carrier
If you lost money or shared personal information, report it to the national fraud service of your country as well. See where to report a scam in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
The same tricks by email and on invoices
Fake payment requests do not only arrive by text. Our page on invoices with changed bank details covers the version that costs small businesses the most.