SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -The United States Postal Service is warning of a text scam that could cost you your identity and what’s in your bank account.
It looks like it’s from USPS and reads: The package has arrived at the warehouse and cannot be delivered due to incomplete address information. Please confirm your address at the link.
Do not click. A real postal inspector tells KY3 that’s a scam.
“These scams are often an attempt to impersonate a government agency or bank in order to lend legitimacy to their claims,” said USPS Postal Inspector Paul Shade.
If there’s a problem delivering a package, you’ll get a physical letter.
“We have thousands and thousands of carriers out there, and they would leave a notification on your door if that were the case,” said Shade.
Listen up … here’s the confusing part.
You *can* get texts from the postal service.
Here’s how it works.
“The only time you are going to receive any correspondence via text from the postal service is if have signed up for it. Perhaps if you were expecting a package from your in-laws or outlaws — they gave you the tracking number, and you went online to USPS dot com to track that package. You can sign up for text notifications on that particular package. You won’t receive anything unsolicited from the postal service. So you have to opt in? That’s correct,” said Shade.
Crooks hope you’ll click on their link. You might see a website similar to the real USPS website asking you to enter your full name, birthday, address, and social security number. Swindlers will also demand your credit card information and usually say it’s for shipping.
If you come across this scam or something similar that looks like it’s from USPS, they want to know.
USPS says to copy the body of the text message you received. Do not click the web link. Paste the copied message into a new email and address the email to [email protected].
Take a snapshot of the above-mentioned text to include the phone number that sent the text. Attach the snapshot to the above-mentioned email. Include in the body of the message:
• Your name
• Date you received the text message
• Whether you clicked on the link/URL • If yes, did you provide any information?
• What information did you provide?
• Report any monetary losses following a possible account breach
• Report any impacts to your credit or person
To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]
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