By Chrystal Blair
Michigan News Connection
The United States Postal Service is warning Michiganders not to fall for what are known as smishing scams.
These scams involve fraudulent text messages claiming to be from the Postal Service, often stating there’s an issue with a package delivery.
John Hyatt – a strategic communication specialist with the USPS – said these deceptive messages often contain links or prompts requesting sensitive personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.
He said they often ask users to click on a link to resolve a zip code or other issue with a pending package.
He warned that personal data is what the sender is after.
“Basically, criminals trying to obtain personally identifying information about a person,” said Hyatt, “such as accounts, user names, passwords, dates of birth, credit card numbers – things like that.”
This past August, the Secret Service issued a warning to Michigan residents about smishing scams and Michigan’s Attorney General has reissued consumer alerts. Hyatt said if you receive one of these messages, never follow the prompts.
“When you get a suspicious text message,” said Hyatt, “if you click on those links, it will take you to a website that could be downloading onto your phone – and once you submit that information then they use it for nefarious purposes.”
Hyatt said you will only receive text messages from the USPS if you have gone online and registered for such services.
“You can sign up to receive text messages about a tracking number,” said Hyatt, “or you can go into the tracking service and put the number in and then ask for text message updates, or even an email update on usps.com.”
He said the USPS informed delivery program is being used by millions of Americans to receive legitimate messages about what packages are on the way.
Go to the USPS.com website for more information.
