Texas police have issued a scam alert after one of their officers received a fake United States Postal Service (USPS) message wishing him a “wonderful day.”
The Texarkana Texas Police Department (TTPD) shared the text message that was sent the officer on November 6.
“Yeah, it’s a scam,” a TTPD spokesperson said in a Facebook post the same day. “But wasn’t it so very nice of them to wish Officer Brent Lawing a wonderful day at the end of their lying thieving message this morning? Just hit delete.”
The scam message, which included the USPS logo, said a package was being held at the warehouse and could not be delivered due to incomplete address information. It also encouraged people to share their correct details by following a separate link or quick-response (QR) code.
TTPD
“Criminals are constantly adapting their ways to scam people out of their money and personal information,” TTPD public information officer Shawn M. Vaughn told Newsweek. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen that they’re more likely to focus their efforts on older people and teenagers as they tend to be more easily taken in by the ruse.
“They try to convince you that they are a legitimate and trusted source, in this case, the U.S. Postal Service. They count on being able to manipulate you into believing that the ‘spoofed’ messages are real, which can lead you to unknowingly download malicious software, send them money, or disclose personal, financial, or other sensitive information.
“Generally, the best defense in dealing with scammers is to slow down and think before you act. You should never click on anything in an unsolicited message or email.
“If you’re not sure if the request is real or not, look up the company phone number on your own and call them directly to see if it is legitimate. However, you don’t want to use the number a potential scammer has provided you as it is probably fake.”
Americans Lose Billions to Scammers
Potential total losses from cyber fraud reached $10.2 billion in 2022, up from $6.9 billion in 2021, according to the FBI’s 2022 Internet Crime Report.
Texas ranked fourth-highest in the country for losses with $763.1 million lost to internet scammers, behind New York ($777 million), Florida ($844.9 million) and California ($2 billion).
“Please know USPS officials would never reach out directly to consumers and ask for money or personal identifying information,” the United States Postal Inspection Service said.
The USPIS said any email or message about a package delivery failure should be forwarded to [email protected] and then delete the email you received.
According to the USPIS, there are several steps that you can take to protect yourself from scams, which include:
- Not giving out your personal information over email
- Be aware of poor grammar that can indicate a fraudulent email
- Be wary of urgent emails as they could be a scam
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.