Tariff-refund scams are surging. Here’s how to tell what’s real.
- Real refunds come from the carrier you already paid or from CBP — never from a text message. The FTC warns that messages about a “refund” with a link to “verify your information” are a known scam pattern (FTC consumer alert).
- No legitimate refund asks for a fee, gift cards, your SSN, or bank login to “release” money. CBP states it never requests sensitive data by email, text, or phone. Browse current schemes at the FTC’s official scam tracker (consumer.ftc.gov).
- Verify duties and refunds only on official channels — customs facts at CBP.gov and government payments only through Pay.gov — never a payment link someone sent you.
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The Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling struck down the IEEPA tariffs, and $166 billion is flowing back — including duties that UPS, FedEx, and DHL paid as importers of record on consumer packages and then billed to the person at the door. UPS's CEO has pegged the consumer-facing pool at roughly $5 billion. All three carriers have publicly committed to passing refunds through to whoever paid the bill. The mechanics, timing, and fine print differ by carrier — and a scam wave is impersonating exactly this process. Here's the current status, verified against carrier statements and official guidance, as of July 17, 2026.
Per-Carrier Status (as of July 17, 2026)
UPS — refunds flowing, automatic. UPS states refunds are issued automatically to the payer of record: *"no need for those customers to contact UPS."* If you paid a UPS customs bill on an IEEPA-era shipment, the refund routes back to your payment method or account without any action. Watch the card or account you used.
FedEx — refund portal live, disbursements begin around August 10, 2026. FedEx is returning roughly $800 million and opened an official verification portal in mid-July (reachable through fedex.com) where customers confirm contact information and can opt in to limited data sharing. Opt-ins are prioritized in the first disbursement wave starting around August 10; customers who decline still get refunded, on a slower timeline.
DHL — pass-through committed. DHL has stated it will pass CBP refunds through to customers who paid duties on affected shipments. Timing communications have been less specific than UPS/FedEx; refunds follow as CBP processes the carrier's own recovery.
The common thread: the carrier was the importer of record, CBP refunds the carrier, and the carrier passes it to whoever actually paid. You do not file anything with CBP, and anyone telling you otherwise is either confused or scamming you.
What You'll Get Back — and What You Won't
Refunded: the IEEPA tariff portion of your customs bill — the duties the Supreme Court struck down — for shipments in the April 2025 – February 2026 window, plus statutory interest on the government side.
Not refunded:
- Brokerage, disbursement, and processing fees. UPS has been explicit that its brokerage-related fees are not part of the refund; those were carrier service charges, not government duties. Expect the same posture from FedEx and DHL. (These fees are the subject of separate class-action litigation — more than a dozen suits are pending — but no court has ordered fee refunds.)
- Section 301 and Section 232 duties. Only the IEEPA layer was struck down. If your item's duty included other layers, those stand.
- Duties on shipments outside the IEEPA window.
Practical translation: a $70 customs bill that was $45 IEEPA duty + $25 brokerage fees returns roughly $45, not $70.
What You Should Do (and the One Thing You Shouldn't)
Do:
- Find your invoices. Search your email for the carrier's billing notices (UPS 'brokerage invoice,' FedEx 'duty/tax invoice,' DHL 'MyBill'). Knowing what you paid and when lets you check the refund math when it arrives.
- Watch the original payment method — that's where UPS refunds land.
- FedEx customers: verify your info in the official refund portal. Type fedex.com into your browser yourself — never follow a link from a text or email — confirm your contact details, and opting in to the portal's data sharing puts you in the first disbursement wave. Declining still gets you paid, just later.
- Check the math when it arrives. IEEPA duty portion: refunded. Fees: not. If the refund looks short by more than the fee amount, dispute through the carrier's billing portal with your invoice attached.
Do NOT file your own claim with CBP for these shipments. The carrier was the importer of record — the refund legally routes through them. Duplicate consumer claims through CAPE clog the process, will be rejected, and are exactly the confusion scammers exploit ("we can file your CBP claim for a fee"). If a shipment where *you* were the importer of record is a different story — that applies mainly to people who imported vehicles or high-value goods under their own name.
The Refund-Scam Wave Impersonating This Process
Because millions of people are genuinely owed carrier refunds, the fraud pattern writes itself: texts, emails, and calls claiming to be UPS/FedEx/CBP, offering to 'release' or 'expedite' your tariff refund — for a fee, a login, or an SSN.
The reality check is simple:
- Real carrier refunds never start from a message someone sent you. UPS: automatic. FedEx: through the official portal you reach by typing fedex.com yourself. DHL: pass-through. No legitimate version asks you to pay a fee, share your SSN or bank login, or click a link that arrived by text or email — and because FedEx's real portal asks you to verify contact info, it is exactly what scammers will imitate. Navigate there yourself, always.
- CBP does not contact consumers about refunds and never requests sensitive data by email, text, or phone.
- Fake refund checks are circulating — deposited, they clear briefly, then bounce after you've wired 'processing fees' back. A real FedEx check requires no fee to cash.
When in doubt: go directly to the carrier's official tariff-information page by typing the address yourself, or check the FTC's current consumer alerts.
Key Takeaway
The carrier refund wave is that rare thing: found money that requires almost nothing from you except patience and an eye on the mailbox. UPS refunds are flowing automatically, FedEx disbursements begin around August 10 (verify your info in their portal — reached by typing fedex.com yourself), and DHL pass-throughs follow CBP processing. Keep your invoices, check the math, ignore anyone who contacts you about 'claiming' the money — and if the refund makes you realize how much duty your side business actually paid last year, that's a number that belongs in your books and on your tax return.
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