Get a text about a missing package? Don’t open the link, officials say. Here’s why
Don’t be fooled by a text message about a missing package — officials say it’s not what it seems.
People across the U.S. are receiving text messages — addressed to them by name — claiming that the recipient has a missing package from a month or two prior and must click a link to retrieve it.
The text starts with the recipient’s name then reads something like: “We came across a package from May pending for you. Please assume ownership and schedule for delivery here.” The message then includes a link.
People who click the link are taken to “fake websites” and asked to log in, the Castle Rock Police Department in Colorado said in a Facebook post.
The Better Business Bureau said the text is likely a phishing scam and that the link could upload a virus or malware to your computer, Indiana news outlet WANE reported.
“If they were to put a virus on your device that could track your keystrokes, that means they could get your username, password and potentially have access to your financial information,” regional BBB communications director Nichole Thomas told the outlet.
People who regularly shop online or those who conduct the majority of their business online tend to be the main targets, as well as those who sign up for free trials, Thomas told WANE.
Even if you are expecting a package and the link seems reputable, don’t click it, Cerise Peck, crime prevention specialist with the Richland Police Department in Washington, told KEPR.
Instead, go to company’s website and track it there.
“I think we just need to be on our toes, they’re going to try to find new ways to manipulate people and trick people,” Peck told the outlet.
Castle Rock police recommend blocking the number on your phone and deleting the message.
If you did click the link, Peck says to think back on what personal information you might have entered and change passwords to the accounts scammers might now be able to access, according to KEPR.
The BBB also suggests running an antivirus software on your computer and keeping close watch on your cellphone, WANE reported.
You can also report the text message to the Federal Trade Commission here or the BBB here.
