It is asking people to pay just a £1.99 fee for an undelivered item of mail – but while the sum might seem small, what they actually want is bank account details.

Now Local Neighborhood Watch schemes have issued a warning urging customers to be extra careful about the new phishing scam.

It comes after a message that was recently received by a Royal Mail customer. The email claimed that Royal Mail had tried to deliver a letter unsuccessfully. And it simply asked the resident to pay a fee of £1.99 in order to redeliver the item.

To do this, they were encouraged to enter bank details online in order to complete the transaction. Both the low fee and the style of the email made the recipient think it could be legitimate.

Just to be on the safe side, however, they contacted fraud experts first – and were warned off.

The email was sent to a homeowner in the Buckinghamshire area – and now customers across the UK have been urged to be careful.

Ray Walsh, digital privacy expert at ProPrivacy, said: “Anybody who receives an email claiming to be from the Royal Mail must remember that they will not ever be asked to pay a redelivery fee.

“Never input your bank or card information after following a link on any email that claims it is from the Royal Mail, because it will result in your card details being stolen by criminals.

“If you have reason to believe that you may have been tricked, it is essential that you contact your bank and cancel your card at once. Additionally, check your statements for any signs of unauthorised transactions.”

The Royal Mail has also got advice for anyone who thinks they could be getting tricked.

A statement on its website said: “If you receive a suspicious email or discover a Royal Mail-branded website which you think is fraudulent, please let us know by contacting us.

“If you have been the victim of a payment scam, you can get a crime reference number by reporting it to your local police station.”

Please keep yourself safe and if you have anything you are unsure of just get in touch with family, friends, or even our ourselves to talk it through. We need to keep vigilant together.

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/…/answe…/detail/a_id/303