Return Label Scam
This scam offers a fake return label or return-shipping service for an online order, charging a bogus fee or collecting your card and account details through a page that is not the genuine retailer or courier.
By the Scam or Safe Editorial TeamResearched & reviewed for accuracyQuick verdict
Understanding this scam
This scam offers a fake return label or return-shipping service for an online order, charging a bogus fee or collecting your card and account details through a page that is not the genuine retailer or courier.
Delivery scams (a form of smishing) impersonate couriers with a believable small problem, an unpaid fee, a wrong address, a held parcel, timed to arrive when you might be expecting something. The link leads to a cloned courier site that harvests your card details and a bank one-time code.
If you take one thing from this guide, make it this: A return label or return-shipping link that asks for a fee or card details. Generate returns only through the retailer's or courier's official site.
If your message looks slightly different, check the Fake Tracking Update Scam or the Order Cancellation Scam, both are close cousins of this pattern. Every related guide lives in the Delivery & Postal Scams guides, and the scam checker can scan the text you received.
A typical example
This is a fictional, anonymised example used to illustrate the pattern. It is not a verified real message, and any names are used only to show how the scam typically reads.
The tell here: A return label or return-shipping link that asks for a fee or card details.
What the data shows
Warning signs
- A return label requiring a fee or card details
- A link that is not the retailer or courier
- A return you did not initiate
- Pressure to act before a return window closes
- Requests for account login or card details
Your safest response
- Generate returns through the retailer's or courier's official site
- Verify any return process in your order account
- Report and delete suspicious return messages
- Pay returns only through official channels
If you have already engaged
- Do not enter card or account details on the page
- If you paid, contact your bank to flag your card
- Change passwords for any reused login
- Watch your statements for unexpected charges
What to avoid
- Do not pay return fees through unofficial links
- Do not enter card details for a return label
- Do not assume the link is genuine
You might also see
Fake Tracking Update Scam
After placing an order, or sometimes out of nowhere, you receive an email or text styled as a retailer's own order-tracking update, often flagging a 'delivery exception' or 'parcel on hold'. A link leads to a page that mimics the shop's tracking area and asks for a small fee or your account login to 'release' the parcel. Unlike generic courier-impersonation texts, this version copies the retailer's branding and order flow, which can make a fake update look convincing if you are expecting a delivery.
Created by Scam or Safe Editorial Team
Order Cancellation Scam
After or even without a real purchase, you get an email or text saying there was a problem and your order was cancelled or needs payment re-confirmation. A link leads to a fake page built to capture your account login and card details.
Created by Scam or Safe Editorial Team
Parcel Insurance Claim Scam
This scam messages that your parcel was lost or damaged and you can claim insurance compensation, linking to a page that collects your bank, card, and personal details to 'process the payout'.
Created by Scam or Safe Editorial Team
Questions people ask
How do I return an item safely?
Should returns require my card details?
I paid for a return label. What now?
How do I check a real return?
Last reviewed June 2026 · Written & reviewed by the Scam or Safe Editorial Team