Fake Package Scams

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Fake Package Scams

Online shopping has transformed how we live our lives. We sit on our couches, buy stuff on our phones and have it delivered to our doors. As a result of all that convenience, we get a lot of packages delivered. Cardboard boxes piled in front of your door is one of the most common sights these days. 

Scammers know package deliveries are so common, and they use it against us! One of the fastest growing scams are fake package delivery alerts, like this real scam message:

The scammers are pretending to be the US Postal Service and claim to have a package that they can’t deliver. You can see that they are trying to make you rush to respond, by claiming to have a package of yours that you need to confirm today. They are even polite, wishing you to have a great day!

These scams work because many of us are waiting for a package to be delivered right now, and we might assume this message is about that package. Scammers don’t know that you are expecting a package, but if they send enough of these to enough people enough times they will eventually reach someone who is expecting a package! They rely on lucky timing to seem legitimate. 

If you were to reply, or follow the link they give you, you would find yourself on a page that looks legitimate and asks for your personal information. As soon as you fill out that personal information, they will have stolen your identity! Even worse, most of these ask for your credit card information to pay a small fee for delivery and if you do that they will immediately begin fraudulently charging your account. 

The best thing to do is to ignore these!

How can you tell it’s a scam so that you can ignore it?

1. Verify Website Domains. They claim to be the USPS but want you to visit upssus.top which is obviously not the US Postal Service. If you are ever wondering if a domain is valid, just go to Google and search to find it for yourself. A quick Google search tells that the USPS is found at usps.com. 

2. Complex Instructions. They ask you to complete an oddly complex series of steps. Reply “1” and then exit SMS and then open the link? That’s way too many steps for a normal interaction. Overly complex instructions are hallmarks of scams, since they are trying to get you to bypass scam protection features on your phone and computer.

3. Verify Sender. Notice the phone number in the message? The US Postal Service would never send a text message from a phone number outside of the US! 

When you take your time to read the message, these warning signs become obvious and clear. It’s only when you rush that it’s easy to overlook the warning signs and fall for the scam. In general, it’s best to ignore any message if you aren’t positive it’s legitimate.

Keep those packages coming, but throw the scams away.

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Quick Tip of the Week: Wait to Reply

Scammers try to trick you into thinking there is an emergency or a rush to respond to them. They hope that if you hurry you won’t realize it’s a scam until it’s too late!

A great defense is to always wait before replying or acting on messages from strangers. If you get a message from a stranger, even if it looks legitimate, wait at least an hour before responding. In many cases, wait even longer! Their tricks don’t work if you aren’t in a rush and have time to think about it, and you’ll see right through them. 

Have you come across a scam recently? Received some weird messages that you think might be a scam? Forward them to [email protected] and we’re happy to help! We’ll take a look and let you know what we think, and if it is a scam we’ll profile it in future issues of The Safety Net to protect others.