Lincolnshire Police has received a number of reports via Action Fraud relating to parcel delivery scams in the run up to Christmas.

Fraudsters are reportedly sending phishing emails and texts, purporting to be from parcel delivery companies, claiming that they have been unable to deliver parcels, packages or large letters.

These emails ask the recipient to pay a fee or provide additional details in order to rearrange the delivery.

Fake delivery notices are also posted through letterboxes in an attempt to gather more information about the recipient, which is later used to defraud them.

In response, Lincolnshire Police is appealing for people to keep in mind when they receive such messages.

Think about whether you have ordered anything recently. Keep track of receipts or confirmation emails for online retailers and recently bought items.

Never follow a link. Go directly to the official website by typing the address directly into the web browser or using a reliable search engine.

If a message is asking for money or personal or financial information in exchange for a package, it's likely to be a scam.

Remain vigilant and check delivery notifications carefully to ensure they are genuine. Signs that the message may be fake include:

o Generic greetings, such as Dear Sir/Madam.

o Poor spelling and grammar.

o Obscure addressing. The 'from' field for an email may be incorrectly spelt or appear as a strange variation of the company's name. Text messages may also show a generic mobile number rather than a company name, which you would expect to see. Lincolnshire Police advise people to report such messages. A statement continued: "If you have received an email which you are not quite sure about, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) at [email protected]. "If you have received a suspicious text message, forward it to 7726. It won't cost you anything, and allows your provider to investigate the text and take action (if found to be a scam)." They added: "If you've lost money, tell your bank and report it as a crime to Action Fraud. By doing this, you'll be helping to prevent others from becoming a victim of cyber crime. For more information, visit the police Cyber Crime page.