DALLAS — Amid the busy holiday shipping season, the U.S. Postal Service is sounding an urgent warning about a scam being sent via text message to unsuspecting users.
According to postal officials, the scam consists of cell phone owners receiving a text message that says a USPS package can’t be delivered because of missing information.
USPS officials say the message includes a text link that could then expose the user’s personal information, including financial details, to unknown scammers when clicked.
“The criminals want to receive personally identifiable information such as: account usernames and passwords, Social Security number, date of birth, credit and debit card numbers, personal identification numbers, or other sensitive information,” the news release says.
Authorities are calling this scam “smishing,” a more sophisticated deceptive practice where users pretend to be from a legitimate company or individual and then provide a link that allows users to provide some type of personal data, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Postal officials say their customers can received automated updates about the delivery status of mail or packages, but mail customers have to sign up on the official page of USPS.
USPS also has a service that is called Informed Delivery, where you can receive emails and updates as the package gets scanned. To sign up for this service, you should visit the official page of USPS.
To report a scam or possible smishing incident, USPS asks customers to take screenshot of text message, paste it into an email and send it to [email protected].
The email must include: The victim’s name, a screen shot of the fraudulent text message and any other relevant details.

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