The text arrived at 6.40am, while Leanne was waiting for the number 35 bus in Sunderland. “Your parcel could not be delivered. Pay the £1.45 redelivery fee here.” She wasn’t expecting a parcel, but her thumb hovered over the link anyway, because the message looked so ordinary. Then she did something most people never do: she forwarded it to 7726. If you want to know how to report a scam text in the UK, what 7726 does, and where to turn if you’ve already tapped, read on.
Reporting a Scam Text at a Glance
| Number to forward texts to | 7726 (spells SPAM on a keypad), free on UK mobile networks |
| How long it takes | About a minute |
| Screenshot route | Email a screenshot or screen recording to report@phishing.gov.uk (NCSC) |
| Lost money in England, Wales or NI | Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud): reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 |
| Lost money in Scotland | Police Scotland on 101 |
| Reach your bank safely | Call 159 (Stop Scams UK line, 26 banks) |
| Scam calls and app messages | Text the caller’s number to 7726; report inside the app |
Why Scam Texts Keep Landing on Your Phone
Leanne gets two or three of these a week, and she is not unusual. Ofcom’s February 2026 research found that 40% of UK mobile users had received a suspicious message in the previous three months. The texts are cheap to send and dressed up as things you half expect: a parcel, a tax refund, a bank alert. Behind them sits real money. UK Finance counted £1.28 billion lost to fraud in 2025, and 17% of authorised push payment scams began with a call or a text. Networks already block an estimated 600 million scam messages a year, yet plenty get through. The Royal Mail “delivery fee” text scam that caught Leanne’s eye is among the most common, because £1.45 feels too small to be a crime.
What 7726 Actually Is
Look at an old-style phone keypad and press the letters S-P-A-M. You get 7726, which is why the number was chosen. It’s a free short code that any customer on a UK mobile network can text, run by the mobile industry and backed by Ofcom, the telecoms regulator. Forward a message to 7726 and it goes to your own network, which can trace the sender and block or ban them if the text proves malicious. What you report doesn’t stay with one company. O2’s help page explains that 7726 reports are shared with all the mobile operators, the Information Commissioner’s Office and approved bodies involved in criminal investigations. Genuine government messages about your tax or pension sit inside your Government Gateway account, never in a text with a link.
How to Forward a Text to 7726 on iPhone and Android
Leanne had never forwarded a text before, so she followed the National Cyber Security Centre’s steps. Write down the sender’s number first, because some phones don’t include it. Newer iPhones have a shortcut: swipe left on an unopened message and choose Delete and Report Junk, and UK networks receive it as a 7726 report. It costs nothing, and the sender never learns who reported them. If you tapped the link before thinking, read what to do if you clicked a scam link first.
- iPhone or iPad: press and hold the message, tap More, tick it, tap the arrow bottom right, type 7726 and send.
- Android: press and hold the message, tap the three dots top right, tap Forward, type 7726 and send.
What Happens After You Press Send
Leanne’s phone buzzed once with a thank-you from her network, then silence. It felt like shouting into a void. The numbers say otherwise. Ofcom estimates that UK mobile users sent around 100 million reports to 7726 in the year to April 2025, over 10 million a month once one-tap reporting reached iPhones. Those reports tune the filters that catch the next batch, and they end up in court papers. In January 2026 the ICO fined Allay Claims £120,000 for more than 4 million PPI “tax refund” texts, a case built partly on 46,000 complaints sent to 7726. A Carmarthenshire sole trader was fined £200,000 in October 2025 after 19,138 people forwarded his texts. If you really are owed tax, the safe route is to claim a tax refund online with HMRC, never through a link.
Scam Calls, Emails and WhatsApp Messages
A week later the scam switched channels. Leanne’s mobile rang with a recorded “HMRC” voice threatening arrest, then a WhatsApp from “Mum” on a new number. Each has its own reporting route. For a scam call, open your recent calls, copy the number and send it in a text to 7726; some networks ask you to text the word “call” first, and O2 customers can ring 202 for free. Emails should be forwarded whole to report@phishing.gov.uk, run by the NCSC. With WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal, use the report and block options inside the app. HMRC never threatens arrest by phone, and anything genuine shows up in the HMRC app or your online account.
If You Tapped the Link or Lost Money
Then it happened to someone Leanne loves. Her mum in Dundee got a text “from her bank” about a suspicious payment, rang the number in it and read out a one-time passcode. £640 left her account within minutes. If that’s you, act in this order. Hang up. Ring your bank on the number on your card, or dial 159, the Stop Scams UK line that connects you to your bank’s fraud team; it covers 26 banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo and NatWest, and costs no more than a national-rate call. Change any password you typed in. Then report the crime: Report Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101, as Leanne’s mum did. If you gave a scammer your bank details, our separate guide explains the refund rules.
Action Fraud Is Now Report Fraud
Search for Action Fraud today and you’ll be redirected, and that isn’t a scam. On 4 December 2025 City of London Police replaced it with Report Fraud, fully launched on 21 January 2026. The phone number stayed the same, 0300 123 2040, while the website moved to reportfraud.police.uk. Phone lines run Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm; the online form is open around the clock. Every police force can see the reports, and victims get a crime reference number plus updates. The change was overdue. Which? reported 4.1 million fraud incidents in England and Wales in the year to June 2025, yet Action Fraud logged only 302,280 reports. Scotland was expected to join during 2026, so keep using 101 there until it does. We explain what happens after you report to Report Fraud separately.
Stop the Next One Before It Arrives
Reporting is half the job. The other half is making your number a poor target. Never reply to a scam text, not even with STOP, because a reply proves the number is live. On an iPhone, switch on Filter Unknown Senders under Settings and Messages; Android has a similar spam protection toggle. Help is coming from above as well. Ofcom’s rules published on 15 July 2026 make mobile providers block known scam numbers, stop messages with malicious links in transit, cap texts from pay-as-you-go SIMs and prevent fake sender names. Owning a SIM farm without good reason became a crime when the Crime and Policing Act passed in April 2026. Scammers copy whatever is new, from the new UK digital ID to the NHS App, so treat every unexpected link as guilty until proven innocent.
Where This Leaves Leanne, and You
Leanne still gets the odd fake parcel text at the bus stop, but now it takes her 30 seconds to deal with one, and she feels a small satisfaction pressing send. Her mum got her £640 back and keeps 159 on a sticky note. To report a scam text in the UK you need one number, 7726, and one habit: forward first, delete second, never reply. The next one will probably arrive this week. When it does, you’ll know exactly what to do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 7726 free on every UK network?
Yes. Forwarding a text to 7726 is free on UK mobile networks, including EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and virtual networks such as giffgaff.
What happens when I forward a text to 7726?
Your network investigates the sender and can block the number. Details are shared with other operators and the ICO, which has used 7726 complaints to issue fines.
Can I report a scam phone call to 7726?
Yes. Copy the caller’s number from your recent calls and send it in a text to 7726. Some networks ask you to text “call” first.
Should I reply STOP to a scam text?
No. Replying, even with STOP, tells the scammer your number is active and brings more messages. Forward it to 7726, block the sender and delete it.
How do I report a scam text in Scotland?
Forward the text to 7726 as normal. If you lost money or shared details, report it to Police Scotland on 101, as Report Fraud does not yet cover Scotland.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about reporting scam texts and fraud in the UK, not legal or financial advice. Numbers, reporting routes and statistics were checked against Ofcom, the NCSC and GOV.UK and are correct as of August 2026; always confirm details on the official source before acting.
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