Text message scams

The fake package delivery text scam

A text claims a delivery failed because of an address problem or an unpaid fee, and asks you to fix it through a link. USPS doesn’t text tracking updates with links unless you asked for them. The link leads to a page that collects your card details and personal information.

By Clutterstrike · Last reviewed · 1 min read

Delivery texts are among the most common scam messages, because they’re believable almost any day of the year. Most of us are expecting something.

What the text looks like

Example text message · details changed
From: [email protected]
USPS: Your package could not be delivered due to an incomplete address. Please update your details within 12 hours or it will be returned to sender: https://usps-redelivery-center.com/track

The link opens a page styled like the carrier’s site. It asks you to confirm your address, then charges a small “redelivery fee”, which is really a way to collect your card number.

How to spot it

  • You didn’t sign up for text updates. The Postal Inspection Service says USPS only texts tracking updates when you request them with a tracking number, and those texts don’t contain links.
  • It has a link and a deadline. “Update within 12 hours or it will be returned” is designed to make you act before you think.
  • It asks for a fee or card details before it will deliver a package.
  • The sender is an email address or a random number, not a short code you recognize.
  • There’s no tracking number, or the one shown doesn’t match anything you ordered.

Got a message like this? Check it

Paste the text, email, or link below. The check runs in your browser, and nothing you paste is uploaded.

Text message from [email protected]
Runs in this page. Nothing is uploaded.

Pick a sample or paste your own, then press Check it.

What to do

  1. Don’t tap the link. If you’re expecting a package, open the carrier’s app or type its address yourself and track it there.
  2. Report it. Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM). For texts pretending to be USPS, you can also email the Postal Inspection Service at [email protected]: paste in the words of the message (not the link itself) and include a screenshot showing the sender and date.
  3. Delete the message and block the sender.

If you already entered card details, call your card issuer’s fraud line now, using the number on the back of your card. Then follow I clicked a scam link: what to do now.

Written by Clutterstrike

Clutterstrike makes Cluttersignal, a browser extension that checks emails, texts, links, and websites for signs of a scam. Our guides are written by the team and checked against official guidance from the agencies listed in the sources.

Last reviewed

Sources

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