As we enter the Christmas season, many people will be using An Post to either receive online purchases or send gives to loved ones abroad – but be wary of being a target for scammers
A warning has been issued to the public ahead of the busy Black Friday and Christmas season. People will be doing a lot of online shopping or posting things to loved ones overseas and that could make them vulnerable to sophisticated scams.
Fraudsters often send emails and texts pretending to be An Post in the run up to the Christmas season, chancing their arm on people who are waiting for orders from An Post or have used them to ship a parcel.
Unfortunately, people who engage with scam texts and emails can see their personal details and even money stolen by fraudsters.
Sharing advice on their website, An Post said: “We are aware of fraudsters sending fake emails and texts to customers pretending to be from An Post. We are asking customers to remain vigilant and be ‘scam aware’.”
They continued: “If you have any doubts about a message you have received about parcel delivery charges or banking transactions, our Post and Parcel Customer Services and An Post Money Customer Services Teams are here to help and verify if it is legitimate.”
They make customers aware of the leading scams they see:
- Fraudulent redelivery text
- Whatsapp reseller scam
- Email phishing scam
- Fake An Post websites
- Fake reseller An Post websites
To see what these look like and how to spot them, you can check them out on the An Post website here.
They also shared specific advise on customs charges.
The below information is correct as of the 29th August 2025.
- If you are sending an item to the USA with An Post, the USA recipient/customer will need to pay taxes before the item can be delivered.
- Our USA partner company, will contact the USA recipient/customer by email or SMS with a secure link to pay these charges. This is the only case where a payment link will be included in a message.
- For items coming into Ireland, An Post will never ask you to pay customs charges via a link in an SMS or email. If you receive such a message for an item coming into Ireland, it is a scam.
An Post will never:
- Contact you by phone, email or SMS and ask you to share any personal details like your date of birth, bank account details, card PIN or full card details, login details, passwords, email address or User ID.
- Charge you a fee to have your parcel redelivered.
- Send messages that contain any links when contacting you about the payment of Customs Charges.
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