A text about a parcel, a toll or a fine arrived during your trip: how to tell if it is a scam
Treat any text that asks you to pay or confirm details through a link as a scam until you have checked it another way. Fake parcel, toll and traffic fine messages are some of the most reported, and they work better on a trip because you really are waiting for deliveries, driving unfamiliar roads and getting messages from companies you just used. Do not tap the link: open the official app or website yourself.
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Scam texts, known as smishing, do not need to know where you are. They are sent in bulk and rely on coincidence, and travel produces plenty of it. You booked a hire car, you drove on a motorway with tolls, you ordered something before leaving and you are getting genuine texts from an airline and a hotel. A message saying a parcel is held, a toll is unpaid or a fine is about to go up lands in the middle of all that.
The FTC lists the patterns that keep coming back: fake package delivery notices, alerts about suspicious activity on an account, invoices for purchases you did not make, and prizes or gift cards. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has warned about texts posing as road toll services, with a small outstanding balance, a late fee if you do not pay quickly and a link to a site made to look like the real toll operator.
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The three messages you are most likely to see
- Parcel: a delivery could not be completed and you need to pay a small fee or update your address. INCIBE has flagged campaigns impersonating courier companies with the excuse that the house number was missing.
- Toll: a balance is outstanding on a toll road and a late fee is coming. The FBI's advice is to check your account through the toll operator's official website or phone line, not through the text.
- Traffic fine: a fine with a discount if you pay now or a surcharge if you wait. INCIBE reminds people that Spain's traffic authority, the DGT, only notifies fines by post and through its electronic address, the Dirección Electrónica Vial, never with a payment link by text.
The common thread is a small amount, a short deadline and a link. Real companies can send texts too, which is why the safe check never goes through the message itself.
How to check without touching the link
Close the message and go to the source on your own: the courier's app, the hire car company's website, your toll account or the traffic authority's site, typed in or opened from an app you already had. If the debt or the parcel is real, it will be there. INCIBE points out that fake fine sites often use addresses that imitate the official domain, so a link that looks almost right is still not proof.
On a trip, keep in mind where texts arrive. Messages to your number land on your usual line, so leave that line switched on even if its data is off. A data-only eSIM, such as the ones we sell at Snoozim, has no number and receives no texts, which means any SMS you get abroad came to your home number. Our guide on getting bank SMS codes abroad explains how to keep receiving the genuine ones.
Filters that keep most of them out of sight
On iPhone, go to Settings, Apps, Messages and scroll to Unknown Senders to turn on Screen Unknown Senders. Messages from people not in your contacts are moved to their own filter instead of your main list. Apple notes that notifications stay on by default for time-sensitive messages such as verification codes, so you will not miss your bank's code.
In Google Messages on Android, tap your profile picture, then Messages settings, Protection & Safety and Spam and scam protection. Google says it is on by default in standard mode. Reporting a conversation as spam also blocks the sender and moves it to the Spam & blocked folder. If you are in the US, the FTC also suggests forwarding scam texts to 7726, which spells SPAM, so your carrier can block similar ones.
If you already tapped and typed something
If you only opened the page and entered nothing, close it and delete the message. If you entered card details, call your bank straight away through its official app or the number on the back of the card, ask for the card to be blocked and check recent movements, even if nothing has been charged yet. This is the order INCIBE recommends.
Take screenshots of the text and the website before deleting anything, and report it: in Spain, to the Policía Nacional or the Guardia Civil, and the INCIBE helpline on 017 can advise you for free. In the US, the FBI asks people to file a complaint at ic3.gov. If you used the same password on the fake page as on a real account, change it and turn on two-step verification, which we cover in our guide to two-factor authentication on a trip.
Can a scam text reach me abroad if my phone uses a travel eSIM?
Yes. Texts go to your phone number, which lives on your usual line, so they reach you wherever that line is switched on. A data-only eSIM does not receive texts.
Does Spain's DGT send fines by text message?
INCIBE says the DGT only notifies fines by post and through the Dirección Electrónica Vial. You can check any fine through the DGT's official channels instead of a link.
Is it enough to just open the link?
Opening it and leaving without typing anything is much less serious than entering card details or passwords. Close the page, delete the text and do not come back to it.
Where do I report a scam text?
Use the report or block option in your messaging app. In Spain you can also contact INCIBE on 017, and in the US the FTC suggests forwarding the text to 7726.
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