Fraud Cleanup

That USPS Text About Your Package Is Probably a Scam

A text about a USPS delivery with a strange link is smishing. Here is how to spot it, what to do if you clicked, and where to report it.

Your phone buzzes. A text says a USPS delivery needs a response. There is a link. Hold off on tapping. The Postal Inspection Service says a message like this one is a scam that goes by the name smishing.

What a USPS scam text is

The FBI says smishing scams happen through text messages. The Postal Inspection Service describes smishing as a form of phishing that relies on a text message or phone number. The victim gets a deceptive text meant to lure them into giving personal or financial information.

Scammers often pretend to be a government agency, bank, or other company to seem legitimate. If you want a broader look at how these texts work, see what a smishing scam is.

How to spot the scam: the signs in the message

The giveaway, per the Postal Inspection Service, is a text saying a USPS delivery needs a response and including a strange link. USPS sends and receives texts to and from mobile phones using 5-digit short codes, the Postal Inspection Service explains.

The Postal Inspection Service suggests two questions worth asking yourself. Verify the sender's identity. Ask yourself why the sender wants your information. Real companies, the Postal Inspection Service notes, do not ask you to confirm or hand over personal information. For more ways to judge a message like this, read how to tell if this is a scam text.

The information the scammer wants

Scammers are after personal details such as usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and card numbers, the Postal Inspection Service says. Stolen personal information is then used to carry out other crimes, such as financial fraud.

The Postal Inspection Service's guide offers one easy rule: treat your personal information like cash. Your Social Security number and credit card numbers can be used to steal your money. Someone who steals your details can set up accounts in your name, and you would never see it happen or sign off on it.

What to do if you got the text but did not click

Do nothing with the link. Do not reply. Then report it, which the section below covers.

Forwarding the smishing text to 7726 is another step the Postal Inspection Service recommends. That helps report the scam phone number.

This is the part that matters most. If you have already interacted with the link, even without clicking submit, the Postal Inspection Service says to notify your financial institution. Even if you typed nothing and only visited the fake page, make that call. Tell your bank or card company what happened and let them decide what to do next.

If you entered a card number or other details, the same rule holds. Notify your financial institution. Say what you entered and where. For a related scam, see how an email scam targeting PayPal works.

How to report a USPS scam text

For reporting USPS related smishing, the Postal Inspection Service says to send an email to spam@uspis.gov.

Will USPS contact you after you report the text? If investigators need more information, the Postal Inspection Service says it will reach out to you. A report is not a conversation, and it is not a promise of anything.

How to report smishing that is not about USPS

Say the text pretended to be a bank, a delivery company, or something else. The Postal Inspection Service says complaints about smishing not related to USPS can also go to its law enforcement partners. Non-USPS smishing complaints can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission. The Postal Inspection Service also names the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center as a place to bring those complaints.

So the split is simple. A USPS smishing report belongs in an email to the Postal Inspection Service. Everything else goes to the FTC or the FBI's center. For a wider view of fake texts of all kinds, read about the scam text message.

Protecting yourself going forward

A few habits from the Postal Inspection Service's guide can lower your risk.

Be cautious of text messages from unknown senders. Keep your security software and applications up to date on your cell phone. You can call your carrier's customer service number to block spam messages. You might also be able to log into your account and activate message blocks there.

Then watch your money. Regularly check your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges, and report them to your carrier if you find any.

Sources