Post office employees warn of smishing scam involving texts, calls

Employees at the United States Post Office in Gonzales are warning Gonzales County residents not to fall for the latest scam involving unsolicited text messages or calls and a strange web link involving a USPS delivery.

Scammers are trying to get customers to click on the link by stating in the message that delivery of a package cannot be completed due to incomplete information. However, this type of text message scam is known as smishing.

“They want your information and all they need is a name and address and they can steal a lot of information from you,” said one post office employee. “Now they are also calling customers and pretending to be the post office. We’ve already had five people come in today. It’s bad. We will never send you a text message like that about a package with a link; it’s not something we would ever do.”

According to the USPS, smishing is a form of phishing that involves a text message or phone number. Victims will typically receive a deceptive text message that is intended to lure the recipient into providing their personal or financial information. These scammers often attempt to disguise themselves as a government agency, bank, or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims. USPS utilizes the five-digit short codes to send and receive SMS to and from mobile phones.

The criminals want to receive personally identifiable information (PII) about the victim such as: account usernames and passwords, Social Security number, date of birth, credit and debit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), or other sensitive information. This information is used to carry out other crimes, such as financial fraud.

The Postal Service offers free tools to track specific packages, but customers are required to either register online, or initiate a text message, and provide a tracking number. USPS does not charge for these services.

USPS will not send customers text messages or e-mails without a customer first requesting the service with a tracking number, and it will not contain a link. So, if you did not initiate the tracking request for a specific package directly from USPS and it contains a link: don’t click the link!

If you suspect the text message you have received is suspicious but are expecting a parcel, please do not click on any links. Rather, report it and visit USPS.com from your mobile device or computer for tracking and additional resources.

How to report USPS-related smishing:

To report USPS-related smishing, send an email to spam@uspis.gov.

• Without clicking on the web link, copy the body of the suspicious text message and paste into a new email.

• Provide your name in the email, and also attach a screenshot of the text message showing the phone number of the sender and the date sent.

• Include any relevant details in your email, for example: if you clicked the link, if you lost money, if you provided any personal information, or if you experienced any impacts to your credit or person.

• The Postal Inspection Service will contact you if more information is needed.

• Forward the smishing/text message to 7726 (this will assist with reporting the scam phone number).

Complaints of non-USPS related smishing can also be sent to any of the following law enforcement partners of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

• Forward to 7726 (this will assist with reporting the scam phone number).

• Report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission.

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI), Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3)