Another scam! No, that is not a final alert for your USPS shipment

Many of my clients and friends have started receiving a new phishing scam via text message. This scam is particularly tricky because they greet the recipient by name. The message purports to be from a mail or parcel service such as the USPS and claims that there is a problem with a shipment, asking you to click or tap a link. The link of course leads to a phishing website that attempts to trick you into disclosing sensitive information.

If you get one of these messages there is nothing for you to do other than ignore it. No one has hacked your phone or computer. Most likely a scammer just obtained a database of names and phone numbers from a marketing list or one of those big server hacks that have happened recently where we are told that the hacker only got names and phone numbers but not passwords.

If you tapped on the link and right away realized something wasn't right you're probably fine. This is not a hack to do anything to your computer. It is simply a phishing scam where they are trying to get you to provide information to them.

Two things that should be an immediate red flag are that the tracking number does not fit the standard USPS format of 13-22 characters, and the link is not a usps.com address.

This is a good time to suggest you sign up for USPS Informed Delivery. It's a service that the USPS offers that emails you a picture of all of the mail you are expected to receive that day along with a list of all tracked packages on their way to you.