U.S. Postal Service phishing scams rising after post-holiday lull
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - After a post-holiday lull, a popular scam is making a resurgence and could hit your cell phone if it hasn't already.
How you react next will determine if you join the millions who have been ripped off.
We are so accustomed to getting texts these days, and the bad guys know it, and they are preying on your inclination to click and get on with it. Four hundred fifteen million spam texts hit U.S. phones every day.
You're expecting that package you ordered, and here comes the text from the postal service saying it's being held up at the warehouse.
"Don't click the USPS text you just got; it's a scam."
The U.S. Postal Service is so concerned about this that they have published a warning video.
Do you ever wonder how the postal service got your cellphone number in the first place?
"They don't, and they don't send text messages about unclaimed packages," says Andrea Avery, a United States Postal Inspector.
Inspector Avery goes on the explain that it's all part of an international phishing scheme after your money, one of many such schemes, all wanting you to click the link.
"They're asked to provide payment information for a slight redelivery fee, sometimes even just 30 cents, then, they ended up receiving fraudulent transactions for more than 30 cents," according to Caitlin Driscoll of the Better Business Bureau."If a link is provided, don't click directly from that link."
What do you do if you are concerned that you really do have a package out there suspended in the delivery space?
"Verify the information independently and directly with the shipping carrier or who you've made that purchase from in the first place," Avery added.
But again, whatever you do, do not click on that USPS text.
Driscoll says to hang onto your tracking numbers and track all packages you send or receive. Interestingly, Gen Z and millennials are most likely to be victimized by phishing.
Do the scammers get that much out of this?
You wouldn't think so since 65% of us delete texts from an unknown number, yet the most recent data from 2022 says that 68 million Americans were victimized to the tune of $326 million, and delivery texts topped the list by a lot.
