A woman went viral on TikTok after warning viewers about a text scam that could cost people their identity and what’s in their bank account.
The message came from The Green Witch, who goes by the username @greenwitchmystics on TikTok. In her video, which had over 230,100 views as of Wednesday morning, she told viewers about the texts, which come from scammers claiming to be from the U.S. Postal Service.
“If you plan on using USPS, UPS, or even FedEx this holiday season to ship or even receive things, please keep watching,” the content creator warned.
@greenwitchmystics I get these at least once a week and for someone who doesnt know better and is expecting something important its very easy to click on a link without thinking DONT DO IT! Check tracking, call fustomer service before anything #usps #shippingorders #smallbusiness #holidaytips #crystalshop #smallbusinesstips #greenwitchmystics #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – The Green Witch
The Green Witch then showed screenshots of what the suspicious messages might look like. “If you get any type of message like this,” she said, “do not reply… Don’t do anything except report and delete.”
That’s because, “UPS, USPS will never text you,” she said. Instead, if there’s something wrong with your shipping address, she said, the courier will simply send the package back.
Of course, there is an option to sign up for text notifications with package couriers. But, as The Green Witch noted, “I don’t think that they text you for stuff like this.”
In March, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service warned of this type of scam on its site. At the time, it noted that the so-called smishing scam will target victims through a “deceptive text message.” It warned that the messages are intended to lure the recipient into providing personal or financial information. They also clarified that USPS utilizes the 5-digit short codes to send and receive SMS to and from mobile phones.
“USPS will not send customers text messages or emails without a customer first requesting the service with a tracking number, and it will NOT contain a link,” the warning on the site read.
In the comments, viewers confirmed that the texts were a scam. One person even admitted to knowing someone who fell for the gambit.
“My sister fell for this,” one viewer confessed.
“I’ve been getting a load of these!!! I’ve blocked three already,” another shared.
“Can confirm they don;t text,” a third user said. “Just had a package delayed… and I got an email from real ups.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to The Green Witch via TikTok comment.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/ups-usps-text-scam/
