Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office warning residents about new text scam

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about a text message phishing scam that appears to be from the USPS.

Marsha King is a former USPS employee, and says she knew immediately something seemed fishy about the message she got from what appeared to be the USPS.

“It says your package is on hold due to the wrong address information,” King tells Channel 11. “It said please update address information via the link and it gives you a link. I used to work for the United States Post Office, so I know we didn’t do that type of stuff.”

The U.S. Postal Inspector says if you click on that link in the text message, you’re inviting the scammer into your life. The USPS adds that if you open the page, your personal information will go directly to the scammers.

If you do get a phishing text asking you to click a link and verify personal information, don’t be tempted to click the link. Report the message as spam and delete it.

“My mom received a text message like that recently,” Charlie Seymour added. “She didn’t do it, she deleted it right away. Just delete it. You should know if you’re getting a package or not, and that’s not how you would be notified.”

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