Don’t Waste Your Money: Warning signs a delivery notice is a scam

So you’re placing your Black Friday orders this week, and now its time to kick back and wait for those packages to arrive.

But beware: Scammers know that and may target you.

Eric Schwartz says he should have known better.

But with several holiday season packages on the way right now, he thought a recent text was legit.

“I got a text message,” he said, “and it was like any other text message. And noticed it was from the USPS.”

The request seemed reasonable at the time.

“They have all my information, but they need me to verify my address,” he said.

But after he entered his address, the site asked for a credit card.

That’s when he realized he was being scammed.

Last summer, David Landeen received a delivery text that even knew his name.

“It said ‘David we came across a package from June pending for you. Kindly assume ownership and confirm for delivery here.'”

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He was tempted to click through to cancel: But had he done that, he would have also given his credit card to a scammer.

With online shopping season now kicking into full gear it’s important to know the warning signs of text scams.

Victoria Jurkovic of the Ohio Department of Commerce told us that millions of fake delivery notices are sent out every holiday season.

Even if you are expecting a delivery, though, she says you still should be suspicious if the message...

Wants you to log in to a site with more than your name.

Asks for a credit card, bank account, or other personal numbers.

Links you to a suspicious website that does not start with “https,” for security.

Meantime, the postal service says it will not text you about a delivery problem.

So keep track of what you order in the next few weeks, and only open a delivery notice if it is from that company.

That way you don’t waste your money.