The USPS recently warned about smishing text messages being sent to unsuspecting victims. Smishing is a form of phishing where criminals send texts or emails hoping to trick you into clicking a malicious link. But if you do, you’ll be handing over personal information that could lead to fraud or financial ruin.
Smishing texts are being sent to people across the U.S. claiming to be from the USPS.
According to the USPS warning, “The criminals want to receive personally identifiable information (PII) about the victim such as account usernames and passwords, Social Security number, date of birth, credit and debit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), or other sensitive information. This information is used to carry out other crimes, such as financial fraud.”
In the latest round of smishing texts, criminals ask the recipient to click a link to verify their delivery address for a package. As you probably know, USPS offers a package tracking service, so this wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary.
But if you never signed up for a USPS tracking request for a specific package, don’t click the link! Sometimes you don’t even have to enter personal details for them to be stolen. Sophisticated software allows cybercriminals to grab details stored on your phone.