Consumer experts urge public to beware of text scams amid holiday season

Kori Johnson
·3 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — While you’re busy checking off the final tasks on your to-do list for the holidays, make sure you don’t fall victim to text scams involving your packages.

With Christmas less than a week away, you’ve probably already checked out all of your online shopping carts. However, you need be aware of “smishing” schemes, which involve deceptive text messages that try to lure people into providing personal or financial information.

“These scams [of] people claiming to be from the United States Postal Service or FedEx or UPS, those are among the top five scams that are reported across the country,” said Teresa Murray, the consumer watchdog director with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

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According to Murray, scammers have become clever when it comes to deceiving consumers.

“What this is about is the bad guys are trying to do anything they can, anything, to get you to click that link, especially this time of year,” Murray explained. “You’re like, ‘Oh gosh, I ordered that thing for Grandma and what, there’s a problem?’ And so you just kind of, like, before you think about it, you click on the link, and then it’s off to the races.”

The scammers claim to be from USPS. News 2’s Kori Johnson even received a message on Wednesday, Dec. 20, saying her USPS package had arrived but couldn’t be delivered because of an incomplete delivery address. It also provided a link to open.

(Photo: WKRN)
(Photo: WKRN)

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service urges the public to watch out for “smishing” scams like this.

“It’s a scam. These texts are part of an international phishing scheme that’s designed to steal personal information from recipients. If you click on that link in the text message, you’ll be inviting the scam artist into your life,” said Andrea Avery, the U.S. Postal Inspector in a public service video about text scams.

The links included in these scam texts can even take you to pages that look like the real USPS site. It’s important to keep in mind that USPS will not send customers text messages or emails without a customer first requesting the service with a tracking number, and even when it does send such messages, they will not contain a link. In addition, USPS does not charge for these services.

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“All these bad guys are trying to do is to make you suspend your common sense for just a couple seconds, long enough for them to kind of suck you into their universe and steal money, steal information, and then you can’t take it back,” said Murray.

If you want to to report USPS-related scams, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said you should send an email to spam@uspis.gov with the following information:

  • 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 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, like 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, which will help with reporting the scam phone number.

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If you want to report other scams, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group shared the following tips:

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