Email Scam Targeting Online Shoppers
By: Jim Madalinsky
Updated: January 16, 2013
ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY - With more and more people shopping online, protecting personal information isn't easy.
An email scam targeting online orders is currently affecting delivery services nationwide.
"This is not from the postal service. This is a scam email. That link can and would enable the scammer to retrieve very important information that customer might possess such as account ID and even financial information. We strongly recommend you delete the email and not even open it," Western PA Spokesperson for the USPS Tad Kelley says.
Kelley says the postal service rarely emails customers and that this specific message has some tell tale signs.
"The text can contain poor grammar or spelling errors. It can also state that the package needs immediate attention or they could forfeit their purchase again extremely untrue," Kelley says.
These types of scams are nothing new. In fact, this exact email scam first surfaced during the 2011 holiday season.
"Some of these scams they go away, they come back maybe with a different look and they're just as troubling as they were before," Kelley says.
And with online shopping up 33% from a year ago, being suspicious isn't a bad thing.
"That's a lot of interchange of information online that folks need to be careful with," Kelley says.
The US Postal Service, Fed Ex and UPS all have websites where you can report anything suspicious.
Links to report fraud:
United States Postal Service
Fed Ex Email: abuse@fedex.com
UPS Fraud Alert
An email scam targeting online orders is currently affecting delivery services nationwide.
"This is not from the postal service. This is a scam email. That link can and would enable the scammer to retrieve very important information that customer might possess such as account ID and even financial information. We strongly recommend you delete the email and not even open it," Western PA Spokesperson for the USPS Tad Kelley says.
Kelley says the postal service rarely emails customers and that this specific message has some tell tale signs.
"The text can contain poor grammar or spelling errors. It can also state that the package needs immediate attention or they could forfeit their purchase again extremely untrue," Kelley says.
These types of scams are nothing new. In fact, this exact email scam first surfaced during the 2011 holiday season.
"Some of these scams they go away, they come back maybe with a different look and they're just as troubling as they were before," Kelley says.
And with online shopping up 33% from a year ago, being suspicious isn't a bad thing.
"That's a lot of interchange of information online that folks need to be careful with," Kelley says.
The US Postal Service, Fed Ex and UPS all have websites where you can report anything suspicious.
Links to report fraud:
United States Postal Service
Fed Ex Email: abuse@fedex.com
UPS Fraud Alert
