Good Lifestyle

The holidays are officially booming, which means that the gift season is also upon us. The stores infiltrate buyers with offers from Black Friday, and the pressure to finalize the Christmas lists in time for Cyber Monday is activated. In the midst of all this excitement, however, there are some security precautions that you will want to keep in mind. In addition to keeping a watchful eye for porch thieves , police now warn people to monitor a new USPS text scam.

In relation: 5 texts that are always scams, warn the experts .

Each season of the past holidays, Crooks become smarter And more sneaky. The frightening part is that anyone may accidentally be victim of a text scam if it is not vigilant. More recently, a Texas police officer received an SMS from an account imitating the postal service of the United States (USPS).

In a Facebook publication , the Texarkana Texas Police Department (TTPD) shared a screenshot of the text of the scam, advising the public from "simply hitting" on messages like the one that the officer received.

The message of the scam did not include a false USPS logo or an incorrect spelling, which can be two of the easiest signs of fraud. But although it may seem legitimate to the blind eyes, the text prompted the receiver to Provide personal information via a separate link and a QR code, which the USP would never do, the TTPD said Nowsweek .

"They try to convince you that they are a legitimate and reliable source, in this case, the American postal service," said public information manager TTPD Shawn M. Vaughn in a Nowsweek interview.

He continued: "They count on the possibility of manipulating you to believe that" usurped "messages are real, which can lead you to unconsciously download malware, send them money or disclose personal information, financial or other sensitive information.

If you think you have received a message from a scam - whether by SMS or by e -mail - Vaughn said that the best thing you can do is "slow down and think before acting".

"If you do not know if the request is real or not, search for the company's phone number by yourself and call them directly to see if it is legitimate. However, you do not want to use the number of A potential crook provided you because it is probably false, "he said. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is also aware of the situation, and wants civilians to know that they would never try directly to consumers and would ask for money or personal identification information ".

The next time you receive an email or SMS on a stranded delivery, USPIS says to transmit it to [Protected by e-mail] , then delete the message. Do not interact with the message or one of the links provided.

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