Fraud Cleanup

Is This a Scam Text? How to Judge the Message

A strange text is on your phone. Read it with suspicion, then pick your next step based on what you did with it.

A text just landed on your phone. It might claim a delivery is on hold, that your bank has locked your account, or that a charge failed. Before you tap anything, slow down and read it like a detective.

How to read a suspicious text: the questions that expose it

The Postal Inspection Service says to verify the sender's identity and ask yourself why the sender wants your information. Start there.

Who claims to be sending it? The Postal Inspection Service says smishing scammers often pretend to be a government agency, bank, or other company to seem legitimate. A real name on the screen proves nothing.

What does it want from you? The Postal Inspection Service says legitimate companies will not ask you to confirm or provide personal information. So a text asking you to confirm a card number, a password, or a Social Security number is a red flag. It does not matter who it says it is from.

What does it link to? The Postal Inspection Service says a text message claiming a USPS delivery needs a response, with a strange link, is a scam called smishing. A link that does not match the company it claims to be from should stop you cold.

The FTC says learning the common signs of a scam can help you avoid one.

What the scammer is actually after

The Postal Inspection Service says scammers want personal details like usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and card numbers. The Postal Inspection Service says smishing victims get a deceptive text meant to lure them into giving personal or financial information.

Why does that information matter so much? According to the guide from the Postal Inspection Service, thieves can use your Social Security number and card numbers to take your money. The guide also warns that fraudsters may set up new accounts using your name, and you would never know or agree to it. And the Postal Inspection Service says stolen personal information is used to carry out other crimes, such as financial fraud.

So the goal of the text is not the text itself. The goal is what you type into the page it leads to. The Postal Inspection Service's guide advises guarding your personal details the way you would guard money. Read the message with that in mind.

If you want a deeper look at this kind of fraud, see our page on the smishing scam.

You only received the text: report and block it

Suppose you read the message, did not tap the link, and did not reply. Good. Now get rid of it and help shut it down.

Do not reply to ask if it is real.

Report it. The Postal Inspection Service says to forward the smishing text message to 7726 to help report the scam phone number. For a full walkthrough of where to send it, see our page on how to report a scam text.

When the message claims to come from USPS, one reporting path goes straight to the source. The Postal Inspection Service says to report USPS related smishing by emailing spam@uspis.gov. The Postal Inspection Service says it will contact you if more information is needed. When a message names a different sender, the Postal Inspection Service directs you to the Federal Trade Commission. The Postal Inspection Service says those complaints can also go to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Block the sender. Use your phone's option to block the number. The guide says you can call your carrier's customer service number to block spam messages. The Postal Inspection Service says you might be able to log into your account and turn on these blocks there.

If the text was about a package, our page on the USPS scam covers that scheme in detail.

This is where the branches split. Pick the one that matches what you did.

You tapped the link but typed nothing. The Postal Inspection Service says if you already interacted with the link, even without clicking submit, notify your financial institution. Call the number on your card or your bank statement, not any number from the text.

You entered information or card details. Do the same as above, and treat it as more serious. The Postal Inspection Service's guide says your Social Security number and credit card numbers can be used to steal your money. The guide also warns that fraudsters may set up new accounts using your name without telling you. So besides calling your financial institution, keep a close eye on your accounts and your statements over the coming weeks.

You replied to the text. Do not answer the next one. Block the number and report the message as described above.

In every one of these cases, the Postal Inspection Service says to regularly check your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges. Report them to your carrier.

How to make future scam texts less dangerous

You cannot stop every scam text from reaching your phone. You can make them less likely to work.

The guide says to be cautious of text messages from unknown senders. The guide says to keep your security software and applications up to date on your cell phone. The guide says to review your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges, and to report unauthorized charges to your carrier.

And keep your guard up about who a text claims to be from. The Postal Inspection Service says USPS uses 5-digit short codes to send and receive text messages to and from mobile phones.

For more on this whole category of fraud, see our page on the scam text message.

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