Canada Post delivery scams: the fake missed-parcel text

The text that finds you waiting

It usually arrives from a number you've never seen:

"Canada Post: We could not deliver your parcel due to an incomplete address. Confirm your details and pay a $1.10 redelivery fee: postescanada-livraison.info"

Some versions claim a customs fee on an international package. Others offer to "reschedule your delivery window." The details shift, but the skeleton never does: a parcel problem, a tiny fee, a link.

These texts go out by the hundreds of thousands. The scammers have no idea whether you ordered anything - they're betting that enough people did. And at any given moment, a lot of Canadians are waiting on a package. That's what makes this one land.

The domains rotate constantly: postescanada-livraison.info one week, canadapost-delivery.info the next. They all share the same trick - the brand name is in the domain, but it isn't the domain. Canada Post's real website is canadapost-postescanada.ca, the full bilingual mouthful, and nothing else.

Why the fee is so small

Look at that $1.10 for a second. It wouldn't even cover the cost of sending the texts.

The fee was never the point. It's the excuse to put a payment form in front of you - a convincing fake checkout with a tracking number, sometimes a little parcel photo, and fields for your card number, expiry and security code. Some versions also ask for your date of birth or address "to confirm your identity."

Once you press pay, your card details belong to someone else. The damage rarely stays at $1.10: charges show up days later, or the card number gets resold. In one common follow-up, a "fraud agent from your bank" calls - and sounds credible because they read your card details back to you. They stole them; that's how they know.

How Canada Post actually handles a missed delivery

This part is refreshingly boring, and it settles most cases on the spot:

• When a delivery is missed, Canada Post leaves a delivery notice card at your door or in your mailbox. Paper, not a payment link.
• Canada Post never texts or emails asking for card or banking details, passwords, or a payment to release or track a delivery. That's their published policy, not folklore.
• Legitimate Canada Post tracking texts come from the short codes 272727 or 55555 - and only if you signed up for tracking notifications. Customer support can also text from 613-734-1002 or 613-734-1004. Any other 10-digit number claiming to be Canada Post isn't Canada Post.
• Real links use canadapost-postescanada.ca. If you genuinely owe duties on an international parcel, you'll see it when you look up your tracking number on that site yourself.

What to do with a delivery text

1. Don't tap the link. If you're expecting a parcel, type canadapost-postescanada.ca into your browser yourself, or use the tracking link from your original order confirmation. A real delivery problem will show up there.
2. Check the sender and the domain. Short code 272727 or 55555: possibly real. Random phone number and a .info domain: fake.
3. Get a second opinion. Paste the whole message into our Scam Text Checker - it flags fake-courier wording and look-alike domains for you. If it's just the link you want checked, use the Link Checker.
4. Forward it to 7726 (SPAM), then delete it. It's free in Canada and helps your provider block the sender.
5. If you entered your card or paid, call your bank now - the number on the back of your card. They can block the card before charges land. Then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca, and walk through our I've been scammed guide for the rest.

Parcel texts are the most common flavour of smishing, but the same tricks show up as fake bank alerts and toll notices - our guide to scam text messages covers the whole family.

The short version

When Canada Post misses you, they leave a card in your mailbox. Scammers ask for yours. A delivery text with a fee attached is a fake - every time. Not sure about one? Check it before you tap.