If you've ordered anything from outside the EU lately (Amazon US, AliExpress, Temu, an eBay seller in the UK), you may have noticed a new line on the bill. Since the 1st of July, the EU has scrapped the old rule that let parcels worth under €150 in duty-free, and a flat €3 customs duty now applies per item, on top of the VAT that was already due. Scammers know this. For the first time in years, an unexpected "customs charge" message doesn't automatically look suspicious, and they're driving a truck through that gap.
What actually changed on 1 July
Under the new EU rules, every item in a package arriving from outside the EU and valued at €150 or less picks up a flat €3 customs duty plus VAT. Most of the time you won't notice: An Post estimates around 95% of online sellers will collect everything at the checkout, so you pay when you buy and hear nothing more about it.
That still leaves roughly five million packages a year coming into Ireland where the charge wasn't collected upfront, usually from smaller overseas sellers. Those really do need to be paid on this side. And a real charge you might owe is the perfect cover story for a fake one.
Why the banks are worried
Bank of Ireland, AIB and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission all issued warnings in the days before the change, expecting a surge of fake customs messages. Bank of Ireland's head of fraud protection, Nicola Sadlier, put it well: fraudsters are always on the lookout for emerging opportunities, and her advice was a "zero trust" approach: "stop, think and check before you click". These texts work because they turn up when you're actually expecting a parcel, the amount looks small and believable, and the page behind the link is a pixel-perfect copy of a courier site. The scammers don't care about the €3. They want the card details you type in.
How to tell a real charge from a fake one
This comes straight from An Post's own security guidance:
- Real An Post customs notices never contain payment links. If a charge is due, you'll get an email and/or a physical postcard through the letterbox with a reference number.
- Pay only in three places: anpost.com typed into your browser yourself, the official An Post app, or over the counter at your local post office. Never through a link.
- Revenue never asks for customs payment by text. Any "Revenue" text looking for money is fake, full stop.
- Urgency is the tell. "Pay within 24 hours or your parcel will be returned" is scam language. An Post doesn't send messages like that.
A note for businesses
If you run a small business that orders parts or stock from outside the EU (plenty of shops and trades around Roscommon do), brief whoever handles the post and the company card. These texts will land during work hours, they'll mention a delivery someone really did order, and a busy person will pay €3.50 without thinking twice. Agree one rule: "we only ever pay customs through anpost.com or the post office". It costs nothing and closes the door.
What to remember
The new €3-plus-VAT charge on small parcels from outside the EU is real, but most of the time it's collected when you buy. Real An Post customs notices come by email or postcard with no payment links, and you pay only through anpost.com, the app or the post office. Anything else goes in the bin, especially a text with a link in it.
