It arrives mid-afternoon, when you might genuinely be expecting something: “Your package could not be delivered. A $1.99 redelivery fee is required.” There’s a link. It looks official. And it is one of the most widespread frauds in Canada today.
This is “smishing”, phishing by SMS text message. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received more than 112,000 fraud reports in 2025, with reported losses topping $704 million, the worst year on record. The CAFC notes that text-message scams have grown sharply, partly because new AI-powered tools let criminals blast convincing messages to thousands of phones at once. And since only an estimated 5 to 10 per cent of fraud is ever reported, the real toll is far higher.
The fee itself is never the point. $1.99 won’t make a criminal rich. The payment page is designed to harvest your full card number, expiry and security code, which are then used for much larger purchases, or sold on.
The four tell-tale signs
1. A courier is asking for money by text
Real couriers don’t collect “release fees”, “customs charges” or “redelivery payments” through a text-message link. Canada Post is explicit about this: it does not send unsolicited texts or emails asking for personal or financial information. If money is owed on a parcel, you’ll see it on the official tracking page or pay at the door or the post office, never through a link in a text.
2. The web address isn’t really theirs
Look closely at the link before anything else. canadapost-postescanada.ca is real. canadapost-track-redelivery.info is not. Scammers register lookalike addresses with extra words, hyphens, or odd endings like .top, .info or .vip. If the courier’s name is buried in the middle of a longer address, it’s fake.
3. There’s a deadline attached
“Your package will be returned within 24 hours.” “Final notice.” Urgency is the engine of every scam, it exists to stop you thinking. A real courier will simply hold your parcel or leave a card. Nothing genuine is lost by waiting an hour and checking properly.
4. It asks for details a courier doesn’t need
A delivery company already knows your address, that’s how they deliver. Any page that asks for your card number, banking login, SIN, or a verification code from your phone is harvesting your identity, not redelivering a parcel.
| A real courier | The scam version |
|---|---|
| Leaves a card, or holds the parcel for pickup | “Pay $1.99 now or your package is returned” |
| Tracking lives on the official website or app | Link to a lookalike address ending .top or .info |
| Quotes a tracking number you can verify yourself | No tracking number, or one that matches nothing |
| Never asks for card or banking details by text | A “payment page” collecting your full card details |
The one habit that beats it
Never use the link in the text. If you think a real parcel might be involved, open the courier’s official app or type their website address yourself, then enter the tracking number from your original order confirmation. If nothing matches, the text was a scam. Delete it.
If you already clicked or paid
Don’t be embarrassed, these texts fool people of every age, every day. Call your bank using the number on the back of your card and ask them to block the card and watch for fraudulent charges. Then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501. Our step-by-step guide walks you through the rest: After a scam: what to do.
Sources: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre 2025 annual statistics (112,000+ reports, $704M reported losses); CAFC fraud-reporting estimates; Canada Post anti-phishing guidance.