Police in Essex are warning residents about a delivery scam.
Crooks are sending residents text messages claiming to be from Royal Mail.
In the messages, recipients are asked to click on a link to pay a small amount of postage for an item which has been sent to them.
Royal Mail has previously warned customers about the scam, which has become prominent during national lockdowns.
In a post on Facebook, police in Southend said: "Criminals are taking advantage of the new reliance on online shopping and deliveries to obtain personal and banking details.
"This follows on from a previous scam where people would receive an email telling them that their parcel could not be delivered and they would have to pay a fee for it to be released.
"The text messages come from a variety of different numbers but all will ask for a small payment which is accessed by clicking a link in the message.
"Royal Mail have stated that this is not a text that they would send out, they will only send a text message to those who have opted into their SMS service."
Police are advising residents in the borough to treat all unexpected text messages with caution.
They also say people should not click on links sent to them through messages or emails.
Speaking about the scam last month, Royal Mail's lead officer Katherine Hart said: "This delivery scam is yet another example of fraudsters attempting to make money out of the unsuspecting public.
"Due to the lockdowns, many millions of people rely on product deliveries, so scammers have focused their efforts on this theme.
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"Royal Mail will only ever contact you via text or email if a customs fee is due, not for domestic parcel delivery. If you have any suspicions, contact Royal Mail to verify before you click any links or share details.”
She added: "Also, the public must also be aware that these types of scams may come in many forms, and scammers do not only use Royal Mail branding.
"Indeed, in January, I commented on a similar scam that used DPD branding.
"These types of scams come in many forms, not just via text but also in emails and through the phone."
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