New Scam Involving the U.S. Postal Service To Be Aware Of
There's a new scam to be aware of involving the U.S. Postal Service.
According to a report from FOX44 News, scammers are sending out emails and text messages claiming to be from the U.S. Postal Service.
The USPS is saying you should not click on or download anything if you receive one of these emails or texts.
These bogus emails and texts are known as "phishing" or "smishing", and they're designed to trick you into thinking it's from a trusted source in order to get you to click on their attachment.
USPS has released a statement regarding these scams, “These messages are prompting unsuspecting consumers to confirm their personal delivery information by clicking a link or downloading an attachment, that, when opened, can activate a virus and steal information such as usernames, passwords and financial account information.”
The U.S. Postal Service wants to remind people that they do not send text messages or emails regarding packages or delivery attempts. So any time you receive these types of communications claiming to be USPS, it's probably a scam and you should just delete or erase the text or email.
As a reminder, here are some tips from the United States Postal Inspector Service to avoid being scammed.
Think - You should always verify the identity of the sender when you see emails or texts that seem suspicious. If someone you don't know and trust is asking for personal information, that should be a clue right there.
Don’t Reply - If you feel like it may be a suspicious email or text, you should never click any links provided in the text. Simply delete it.
Report - Notify the company the scam is impersonation. By doing so that company can issue warnings to it's customers as well.
Block Spam Messages - There are a couple of steps you can take to prevent spam messages. Call your carrier's customer service and have them “Block all text messages sent to you as email” and “Block all multimedia messages sent to you as email.”
Treat Your Personal Information Like Cash - Social Security numbers, credit card numbers are exactly like cash to scammers. Protect those numbers like you would your own cash.
Review Your Cell Phone Bill - By reviewing your phone bill regularly, you can help prevent unauthorized charges.
Security Updates - Always a good idea to keep your computer and mobile device up to date with the latest security software.
For more information on USPS scams, visit uspis.gov/tips-prevention.