Home / Delivery message checker
Does this parcel message match an order?
From 20 November to 5 January, parcel messages peak. List the orders you expect, paste the message, and see what matches and what does not, letter by letter.
Free · stays on this page · print the evidence sheet
Letter by letter
- Top: your order email
- Bottom: the link in the message
- Boxed: one character differs
Your evidence worksheet
Two parts: what you expect, then what arrived. The page reads both on this device and lists every observation with the reason to look at it.
What the message shows
Twelve things the sheet looks at
Each one is listed with the reason to look at it. None is added into a score.
Domain compared with your order email
A shop or courier you ordered from normally links to the domain in its own emails. Any difference in letters is worth a look.
Link shortener
A shortened link hides where it leads, so you cannot compare it with the shop or courier before opening it.
Extra hyphens or digits
Look-alike addresses often add words joined by hyphens or numbers to a name you know.
Ending differs from your order email
The same name can be registered under many endings. A different country or type of ending is a different owner.
Known name placed in front of another domain
Only the last part before the ending decides who owns a link. A shop name written on the left of it is decoration.
Letters from another alphabet
Some alphabets have letters drawn like Latin ones. A link can use them so it looks identical on screen.
Matches an expected order
A genuine update usually names something you can tie to an order you made: the shop, the carrier or the tracking number.
Order reference in the message
Real notices carry an order or tracking number you can look up in your own account. A message without one gives you nothing to check.
Unexpected carrier
If a message names a carrier that none of your orders use, it cannot be about those orders.
Request to pay a small fee
A small amount feels easy to pay, and it is how card details get collected. Real charges show up in your own order account.
Deadline under 24 hours
A short clock leaves no time to check the order in your own account first.
A number rather than a name
A name can be checked against the shop or carrier. A bare number can be anyone, and can be changed for each message.
Free · stays on this page · print or save the sheet
One page for the whole household
Print it, put it by the phone or on the fridge, and add the numbers you would call. The orders list downloads as a CSV file you can keep through the season.
A parcel message arrived
Check it before you touch it.
- Do not tap the link. Do not reply.
- Open the shop or carrier from your own saved account or app.
- Find the order. Does the shop, the carrier and the tracking number match?
- A fee, or a clock under a day? Write it down and wait.
- Call the number on the shop’s own site.
- Tell someone in the house. Keep the message until it is reported.
The shop’s own number:
Where our order list is kept:
Busy parcel weeks: 20 November to 5 January
Reporting checklist
Routes differ by country, so these name the route and leave the address to you.
Tick each one as you do it. The same list prints at the end of the evidence sheet.
The rule
Open the order from your own account first. Then decide about the message.
Free · stays on this page · print or save the sheet
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