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Track a parcel and spot fake tracking
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know how to find your tracking number, read where the parcel is, and recognize a fake delivery message.
Tracking a parcel means checking the steps of its journey: the moment the carrier picks it up, the sorting centers it passes through, its last day in the delivery vehicle. For this, you need a tracking number, a string of digits and letters that identifies your parcel, and which isn't the same thing as your order number. We're going to find it, read the tracking together, and see what to do when nothing moves anymore. We'll finish with the question that worries people most: how to tell a real delivery notice from a fake message, when you're really waiting for a parcel. Everything happens on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real, so nothing can happen to you.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYou've been waiting for a parcel for four days, and you don't know where it is.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
The message that carries the number
Your turn Among these messages, tap the one that contains your tracking number.
You open the "Your order has shipped" message: it's the one carrying the tracking number, because the parcel has just left.
Two numbers, only one is for tracking
Your turn Two numbers are shown. Tap the one you'll enter in the tracking app.
You tap the tracking number, 8K42 7719 03, the carrier's. The order number, meanwhile, is used to write to the store.
Read where the parcel is
Your turn The parcel might arrive today. Tap the step that says so.
You tap "Out for delivery": the parcel is loaded in the vehicle, and it should be delivered that day.
When nothing moves anymore
Your turn The tracking is stuck and the announced date has passed. Tap what you do.
You write to the seller from your account, mentioning the order number and the announced date. They're the one responsible for the delivery.
What a carrier never asks for
Your turn Four requests come in while you're waiting for the parcel. Tap the only normal one.
You choose the only normal request: indicating where to leave the parcel, in the tracking app you opened yourself. The other three never come from a carrier.
The sheet to keep
- The order number is for the seller, the tracking number is for the carrier. These are two different numbers.
- The tracking number arrives with the shipping message, and it also appears in your account with the seller, in the orders section.
- "Picked up": the carrier has the parcel. "In transit": it's traveling between two sorting centers. "Out for delivery": it's in the vehicle, for today.
- When nothing moves anymore, write to the seller: in France, they're responsible for the delivery until the parcel reaches your hands, even if they entrusted the shipping to someone else.
- Without an announced date, delivery must happen no later than 30 days after the order. Past that, you can set a new reasonable deadline in writing, then cancel and get a refund.
- A real carrier may ask you where to leave the parcel. It never asks for money by message, never a username or password, never a photo of your ID.
- Tracking is checked through your own door: the app you installed, or your account with the seller. Never through a link you received.
- In France, a fraudulent message can be forwarded free of charge to 33700.
The reflexes in this skill
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
I look at WHO is speaking
A displayed name is just text, so it can be copied. What matters is the exact address of the sender, or their phone number. A delivery announced from an unknown mobile number is not a delivery.
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
Can a real carrier ask you for money by message to release a parcel?
See the answer
No, never: a delivery company doesn't ask for payment by message
Delivery companies never ask for payment by message to hand over a parcel. When an amount is requested by message, it's a fake, even if you're really waiting for a parcel that day.
Your tracking hasn't moved in eight days and the announced date has passed. Who do you contact?
See the answer
The seller, with my order number
In France, the seller is responsible for the delivery until the parcel reaches your hands, even if they entrusted the shipping to another company. So it's up to them to write, and up to them to track down the parcel.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.