Yodel Scam Text Messages: How to Spot a Fake Yodel Text (UK)

A text from 'Yodel' says your parcel needs a small fee or new details? Yodel now runs as Yodel by InPost, and tracking has moved — here is how to check a delivery properly and spot the fake.

By Alex Bacsa · Published 2026-06-05 · Updated 2026-08-10 · 7 min read

What changed in July 2026, and why scammers benefit

Yodel now operates as Yodel by InPost, and the customer-facing tools moved during July 2026. Yodel's own help centre says the Yodel by InPost app is no longer available from 17 July, and InPost's Yodel help page says Yodel by InPost web accounts also stopped being available from that date. Parcels are handled by InPost, and customers are told to use the InPost app or inpost.co.uk to track and manage deliveries.

That transition is exactly the kind of moment smishing gangs wait for. When people are unsure which app, brand, or web address is now correct, a text saying "your Yodel parcel needs attention" is harder to dismiss. InPost also warns that during the move you may receive updates from both Yodel by InPost and InPost, so two genuine senders is now normal — which removes the easy assumption that anything unexpected must be fake.

The practical rule has not changed, though: judge a delivery message by whether you can match it to a real parcel through a route you opened yourself, never by the branding or the link inside it.

The same redelivery-fee trick also targets other couriers - our DPD Scam Text or Genuine Message? Check a Fake Delivery Text guide covers the DPD version if a similar text named a different company.

What a fake Yodel text is trying to get

A Yodel scam text impersonates the courier so you tap a link and hand over payment or personal details. It usually claims a delivery failed, a parcel is waiting, or an address needs confirming, then asks for a small 'redelivery' or 'release' fee.

These are sent in bulk to random numbers. The sender has no idea whether you have ordered anything — the bet is simply that many people have a parcel moving at any given time. The small fee is deliberate: a couple of pounds feels too trivial to be worth defrauding someone over, which is what makes people enter a card number. The card details are the actual target, and a follow-up call impersonating your bank is where the large losses happen.

The one commitment that settles a fee demand

Yodel by InPost's own fraud and information-security page states it will never send emails or text messages asking you to provide your bank details or phone number, and that it will never ask for a fee for redelivery of a parcel.

So a message demanding money to release or redeliver a parcel contradicts the courier's own published commitment, whichever brand name it uses. Note the limit of that rule: it covers redelivery fees and requests for bank details or phone numbers. Genuine delivery notifications do exist, and a retailer or an import charge can legitimately involve money elsewhere in a purchase — so "a message mentioned money" is not the test. "A courier asked me to pay a fee to get my parcel redelivered" is.

Signs the text is not from the courier

• It asks for any payment to receive or redeliver a parcel.
• It asks for bank details, card details, or your phone number.
• The link is not on inpost.co.uk or yodel.co.uk — watch for added words, hyphens, or unusual endings.
• It arrives from a random mobile or international number.
• It pressures you with a deadline, a holding fee, or a threat to return the parcel.
• You cannot match it to an order you actually placed.
• It asks for a one-time passcode, password, or date of birth. Yodel's fraud page notes that genuine companies do not email asking for usernames, passwords, dates of birth, or card details. These waves cluster around bank holidays, when a missed delivery is most believable; our bank holiday parcel scam guide covers the timing.

Checking a delivery now that tracking has moved

Do not tap the link in the message. Instead:

• Find the tracking number in the dispatch confirmation from the shop you ordered from, not from the text.
• Open the InPost app, or type inpost.co.uk into your browser yourself, and enter that tracking number.
• If you still have a Yodel tracking reference, yodel.co.uk remains the brand's own site and directs customers to the current InPost route — reach it by typing the address, never through a message link.
• Ask the retailer which courier is carrying the order and whether anything is genuinely out for delivery. The retailer is often the fastest independent check.

A genuine tracking page shows your parcel without asking for a card number, a PIN, a banking password, or a one-time passcode. Yodel's fraud page also says its legitimate emails come from donotreply@yodel.co.uk or noreply@yodel.co.uk, which is useful context for email — but treat a sender address as a clue, not proof, because sender details can be spoofed.

If you tapped the link or entered details

Delivery scams have a distinctive second act, so the order of these steps matters.

• Call your bank on the number printed on your card and say you may have entered card details on a fake courier site. Ask them to stop the card and watch the account.
• Expect a follow-up. Criminals who harvest details from a parcel page often ring within days posing as your bank's fraud team, using the real details you just gave them to sound credible. No genuine bank will tell you to move money to a safe account. Hang up and call back on the number on your card.
• Treat any one-time passcode you shared as compromised, and change any password you typed.
• Keep the message and any payment receipt before deleting anything — you will need them to report.

If money has left your account, the payment route decides what protection applies. Our scam recovery checklist sets out the card, transfer, account and identity steps in order, including how reporting differs in Scotland.

Reporting a fake Yodel or InPost text

Forward the text free to 7726. That shortcode is run by the mobile networks and lets them investigate and block the sender.

Yodel's fraud page asks customers to forward suspicious emails to information.security@yodel.co.uk rather than clicking anything inside them, so the brand can act on fake domains. Phishing emails can also go to the National Cyber Security Centre at report@phishing.gov.uk.

If you lost money or handed over details, report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 if you are in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101.

Frequently asked questions

Sources checked

• Yodel by InPost — can I still use my Yodel by InPost app?
• InPost — Yodel help and the move to InPost
• Yodel — Fraud: information security advice
• Ofcom — reporting scam texts to 7726
• Report Fraud — report fraud and cyber crime
• Report Fraud — reporting a fraud, and who the service covers
• Police Scotland — contact us: non-emergencies on 101

Reporting routes in this guide are checked against our verified canon of official UK sources — Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 for Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the consumer service for each nation — by an automated accuracy gate before publication. Editorially updated by Alex Bacsa, Founder & Editor, on 2026-08-10. Read about how Beat the Scam writes guides.