LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — With the Christmas holiday rapidly approaching, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wants to warn Michigan residents about fraudulent smishing text messages claiming to be from the United States Postal Service (USPS).
“Hundreds of millions of packages are shipped each holiday season, and bad actors see that as a prime opportunity to scam you out of your hard-earned money,” said Nessel. “It is critically important for people to recognize a scam like this and avoid giving out their personal information. Clicking on fraudulent links can lead to identity theft, the installation of malware on your device, or it could lead to your contact information being sold to other bad actors who are also looking to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.”
Smishing is when a scammer, pretending to be from a trusted entity like USPS, sends a text message to a potential victim asking them to provide personal information such as, passwords, account numbers, debit card information, and social security numbers.
USPS smishing scams often alert potential victims that a package has been delayed and to obtain an update, the person must pay for the update.
AG Nessel has provided residents with the following list of ways to protect your phone numbers and personal information:
- Don't share your phone number unless you know the person or organization well.
- Don't assume a text is legitimate because it comes from a familiar phone number or area code. Spammers use caller ID Spoofing to make it appear the text is from a trusted or local source.
- Don't provide personal or financial information in response to the unsolicited text or at a website linked to the message.
- Don't click on links in a suspicious text; they could install malware on your device or take you to a site that does the same.
- Don't reply, even if the message says you can "text STOP" to avoid more messages. A response tells the scammer or spammer your number is active and can be sold to other bad actors.
- Never follow a text's instructions to push a designated key to opt out of future messages.
“This smishing scam is common and may look like the photo to the right. In addition to the sender’s email coming from a public domain instead of the organization's domain, the suggested link does not match the public facing website for the USPS and there are typos throughout,” AG Nessel said.
To file a complaint with the Michigan Department of Attorney General, call 877-765-8388 or click here for the online complaint form.
You can also learn the signs of a scam by visiting the state's website.
Those signs are when you are:
- Contacted out of the blue with an urgent request.
- Pressured to act or respond immediately. Offered something that sounds suspicious.
- Urged to keep the call secret.
- Asked to provide personal or financial information.
- Requested or demanded to.
- Asked for money.
- Asked for payment in an unusual form.
- Told to go to your financial institution to withdraw money and instructed to put your phone in your pocket while they remain on the line. They may also instruct you on what to say to the staff at your financial institution.
- Told you have won or inherited a large sum of money, then instructed to pay an up-front fee to collect on the windfall. They claim the fee is to cover the cost of processing or shipping or to pay taxes on the winnings.
- Given vague information regarding the purpose of the call and/or caller is reluctant to answer questions about the business or their offer. Threatened if you don’t comply.
- Promised something too good to be true.
