JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You may have received a text recently from a number saying it's from the United States Postal Service. That message, if you got it, probably said something along the lines of a scheduled delivery for a package that had changed and asks you to click a link to confirm.
Law enforcement warns, don't click that link. It's a scam.
"I think it is fair to say that if living in this time [COVID] has changed your behaviors, meaning that you are ordering more things online and you're receiving more packages, then that means that you are more likely to think that this is type of legitimate scenario that you need to provide your information to," FBI Jacksonville Public Affairs Specialist Amanda Videll said.
According to Videll, scammers could steal your personal information, like your social security and credit card numbers, if you click on the link.
“We know that scammers take advantage of every opportunity and look for vulnerabilities in order to target people," Videll explained. "And so, throughout the pandemic, they have been looking for those vulnerabilities and attempting to take advantage of people."
Instead of clicking on the link, Videll said, call USPS or whichever company you are expecting the package from.
USPS' Office of the Inspector General posted a warning about the scam on its website earlier this year. It said the Inspector General found the scam while doing an audit of the postal service’s social media activity.
First Coast News reached out to USPS for a statement. A spokesperson referred FCN to USPS' website, and recommended people report the scam to the USPS Inspector General and/or law enforcement.
You can report the scam to the USPS Inspector General by emailing spam@uspis.gov. You can report the scam to the FBI by visiting the Internet Complaint Center.
According to Videll and the USPS' website, this scam is considered smishing. That means scammers target you through your phone by saying they're a legitimate company.
According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2020 report, smishing ranked one of the top crime type by victim county in 2020 with more than 241,000 victims.