This article was written by Sarah Brookbank and appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on 30 November 2020. We’re sharing it with you to help keep you safe during the holiday season – a time when scammers have a field day ripping off the unsuspecting. And we don’t want you to be one of those! Be Safe! Stay alert and always be on the lookout for things that seem too good to be true.
Watch out for text messages about package deliveries from FedEx, USPS, or UPS; it could be a scam
Did you get a text from USPS, FedEx, or UPS asking you to click a link about your package delivery? With holidays approaching and online shopping in full swing, double-check before clicking that tracking link.
It could be a scam.
The Federal Trade Commission said scammers send a text message with a fake shipment tracking code and a link to update your delivery preferences to get access to personal information.
In one version of the scam, the link takes you to a fake Amazon website, the FTC said.
“There, you’re invited to take a customer satisfaction survey. And you might just win a free prize. But to get it, you have to give them your credit card number to pay for shipping,” the FTC said.
These types of scams are types of phishing, the Better Business Bureau said.
“These either contain a ‘tracking link’ or a message that the shipper is having difficulty delivering a package to you, or most recently, a link to update delivery preferences,” the BBB said. “Clicking the link either takes you to a form that asks for personally identifying information, or to a site that downloads malware onto your computer.”
If you do get one of these texts, don’t click the link.
I received one from Fedx but didn’t open it since I wasn’t especting a package.
Anything that comes in my email saying any of those names are like a big red flag. I even have had calls on the phone from a digital voice telling me like they are from Amazon, and someone has charged something on me over there.
I received one from UPS, wanting too deliver my passport, I received bmy passport 6 months
Never clicked on the link
Good advice. I get texts from all of those places but my phone is configured so the link does not work.
I have received email from all of the above or that I have won something plus others from saying I have received a deposit entered in my bank…..ALL are scams! Like who would deposit thousands of dollars in an account with your bank especially when you aren’t expecting a deposit…one good check of your account and zilch, LOL BEWARE folks!
I have received so many scams in my emails that I have grown weary of deleting them all.