Tri-Cities, Don’t Fall For New USPS Texting Scam In Washington

There is a new text scam in Tri-Cities and the surrounding area that you need to be aware of. I received this text below yesterday morning saying I could not receive a package that was to be delivered from USPS because my address was not correct.

Once i clicked the link on the text, it brought me to what looked like an official USPS page to update my address. At this point I was not thinking anything was wrong or awry. After I updated my address, it brought me to another page.

The next page stated that it still could not deliver the package because there was postage due for $0.09 and they needed a credit card number. This is where I had alarms going off in my head. I decided to check the tracking number because I have multiple packages coming and thought to check if it was even real. Turns out the number is not even a real tracking number.

LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS?

The Postal Service has a warning out to people for this very situation. They posted an alert about this Smishing scam on their website back in June of 2022.

"Have you received unsolicited mobile text messages with an unfamiliar or strange web link that indicates a USPS delivery requires a response from you?  If you never signed up for a USPS tracking request for a specific package, then don’t click the link! This type of text message is a scam called smishing."

Make sure you check before you just start putting in your personal information especially bank information. The USPS warn on their site of these very dangers.

"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."

WHAT DO I DO IF I GET THIS TEXT MESSAGE?

The USPS has some really good advise on their website:

"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.

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:

• • The Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint.
• • The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI), Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3) at https://www.ic3.gov/complaint"