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We trust the American postal service (USPS) with many important things, including letters to dear beings and sensitive financial information. But a text scam in circulation involving USP could put your private data in less reliable hands, which allows criminals to use it to steal your money or open fraudulent accounts on your behalf. To avoid this, scam experts warn what to be on the lookout and how you can avoid being mistaken. Read the rest to find out how USPS postal inspectors say you can prevent identity theft.

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Have you received a text on your USPS package stuck in a warehouse? You're not alone.

In recent months, countless people have brought social media to share similar texts they have been sent concerning delivery problems.

"I recently received an SMS saying that a USPS package has arrived at the warehouse but was not available due to an incomplete address. He then provided a link to fill out", a user Posted on X August 23.

Another person shared almost the same story a few days earlier, in a August 14 Reddit Post . "I received an SMS saying that the USPS had not delivered my package and said to confirm my address to a link," they wrote.

The incidents go back several months. Another Reddit user published about the same warehouse message in a June 14 , asking: "Does USPs send these kinds of texts?"

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No, postal service doesn't Send this type of SMS. In a August 28 interview With Ky3, based in Missouri, USPS postal inspector Paul Shade said that the warehouse text is a scam that could cost people their identity and money. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"These scams are often an attempt to identify an agency or a government bank in order to lend legitimacy to their complaints," Shade told the media.

According to malware advice, this specific scam encourages victims to click on a link to Confirm personal details In order to have their package shipped. The link in the text directs you to a false USPS website designed to steal the data you enter - and these criminals are looking for your personal or financial information, the American postal inspection service (USPIS) warns On his website .

"Criminals wish to receive personally identifiable information (PII) on the victim such as: User names and account passwords, social security number, date of birth, credit card and Debit, personal identification numbers (pins) or other sensitive information "," the USPIS explains. "This information is used to carry out other crimes, such as financial fraud."

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This specific USPS scam "has already resulted in thousands of cases of identity theft and serious financial consequences," reported malware. The most important protective measure you can use is exactly how the agency will contact you.

If there is a problem to deliver a package, Shade told Ky3 that customers would receive a physical letter on this subject.

"We have thousands and thousands of carriers, and they would leave a notification at your door if that were the case," he said.

It is possible to receive texts from the USPS, noted the shadow, but You I must be the one who initiates him.

"The only time you receive an SMS correspondence from the postal service is if you have registered," Shade told Ky3. "You will not receive anything unlits from the postal service. So you have to oppose."

On its website, the USPI confirms that customers can Prevent identity theft By remembering this. "Never give personal information by phone or internet, unless you have initiated contact," advises the agency.

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When Better life contacted the USPS on the warehouse text scam, postal inspector Michael Martel Confirmed that the agency offers free tools to follow the packages. If there is a problem with your delivery, you can be informed by SMS, but only if you have registered with the notifications.

"Customers are required to register online, to launch an SMS and provide a follow-up number," he said.

Martel said that there are two other red flags that customers can also look for: payment requests and unlined links.

"USPS does not charge these services," he noted. In addition, the agency "will not send text or email messages to customers without a customer first requests the service with a follow -up number, and it will not contain a link."

Martel concluded: "So, if you have not launched the monitoring request for a specific package directly from the USPS and it contains a link: do not click on the link."

If you have received one of these warehouse texts, do not only delete it. Instead, Martel said that customers should report SMIMING scams linked to the USPS like this to the agency's inspection branch. You can do so by sending an email to [Protected by e-mail] .

"Without clicking on the web link, copy the suspicious SMS body and stick to a new email," he said. "Provide your name in the email and attach a screenshot of the SMS showing the sender's phone number and the date sent."

Martel advised people to also include "all the relevant details" in their email, as if you have clicked on the link, lost money, provided personal information or if you have known impacts on your credit Or your identity.

"The postal inspection service will contact you if more information is necessary," he said.

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