SMISHING: A USPS Scam That Is Hitting Maine Hard Through Text

Yesterday as I was working a text came through to my phone. I checked it and immediately thought it was legit. But then took a second look when I had more time and noticed the verbiage looked suspicious.

The photo of the text is below. Let's be clear, this is a scam and is not a legitimate message from USPS.

Lizzy Snyder

Obviously the word "Notice" is not spelled with an "N" as well as the "pls" that should be "please." Misspelling is a sure fire way to spot a phishing or "smishing" scam.

Smishing is defined as,

the fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.
Dictionary.com

According to the United States Postal Service Office Of Inspector General,

During an audit of the Postal Service’s social media activity, the OIG uncovered a Smishing campaign which involved a third party posing as USPS, claiming to have a link to information about a package.
Alerting customers to potential fraud helps protect their personal information and preserves the Postal Service’s brand, reputation, and customer loyalty.

This is not real! Do not click on the link!

If you already have, it seems like you'll be okay.

Also on the same website,

You should be fine clicking the link as long as you don’t download anything from the page it opens or enter any type of information into the site the link takes you to.

During the holidays, scammers are out and ready to steal your information and are making it harder and harder for us to distinguish if these messages, emails, and phone calls are legitimate or not.

If you have any hesitation do not click on any links. These people are trying to entice yo and make you feel like you have to urgently respond to something. Whatever it is, do not answer.

Here is more information on how to spot a Smishing attack to your cell phone.

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