According to reports from the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau, scammers are increasing their use of the fake package delivery scam. In a typical scam of this type, consumers receive a text message, email, or phone call informing them that they have a package waiting for them or that the delivery service (e.g., FedEx, UPS, or USPS) was unable to deliver a package.

To get the package delivered, the consumer is asked to click on a link and “verify” personal information or supply payment information (like a credit card or bank routing number) to reschedule the delivery. In other cases, the scammers’ messages may direct recipients to an authentic-looking website (for example, a phishing site that looks like an Amazon customer satisfaction survey). Consumers who fall for this scam can end up inadvertently signing up for difficult-to-cancel subscription services.

These delivery messages can be quite convincing—but they are fake and generated by scammers trying to extract valuable information from consumers. As consumers come to rely more on e-commerce for day-to-day needs, they may be more likely to assume these messages are legitimate. However, with a little knowledge, you can avoid being the next victim of these swindles.

Here are the steps you can take to reduce your risk:

1. Do not click on any links or attachments in text messages or emails claiming to be from a package delivery service. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be with a package delivery service, hang up. Do not press “1” (or any other number) to be connected to a representative.
2. If you do click on a suspicious link, do not supply any personal information such as your Social Security number, mailing address, credit card number, or bank account routing information, even if it is just to “verify” your identity.
3. Do not be alarmed by language in text messages, emails, or phone calls that claim your response is “urgent.” This is a common tactic that scammers use to get you to act before thinking.
4. If you are unsure whether you have a package waiting for you, go the delivery service’s website (e.g., amazon.com, usps.com, or ups.com) and enter the tracking number there.
5. If you receive a spam text message, forward it to short code 7726, which sends the message to the GSMA’s Spam Reporting Service. This is a service run by the major U.S. wireless carriers to help identity trends in scam texts. You can also report these scams via our secure online complaint form at Global Anti-fraud Hub.

If you suspect that you have become a victim, report it immediately. You can file a complaint at Global Anti-fraud Hub via our secure online complaint form. We’ll share your complaint with our network of law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners who can investigate and help put fraudsters behind bars.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

The set-up for these scams is remarkably consistent. Consumers who sent us complaints report that these scams begin when they receive a message on Facebook Messenger from someone impersonating a former classmate or an old friend. When the recipient responds, the scammer strikes up a conversation to build trust. Once trust is established, the impersonator urges the consumer to send a text message to a number the scammer controls to get information on a grant, prize, or even government stimulus funds. When the victim texts the number, they are urged to pay an up-front fee and/or supply personal information (Social Security number, bank account/credit card information, etc.) to collect the non-existent money. Victims who do send the money are then urged to send even more money until they catch on. Unfortunately, the money is often sent via wire transfer or gift cards, which are extremely difficult or impossible to stop or reverse.

While this scam is not new, the request to take the conversation off Facebook Messenger and on to text message is a new twist. This is likely due to the scammers trying to evade anti-fraud technology employed by Facebook.

Here are tips to reduce your risk of falling victim to this scam:

• Don’t immediately assume your Facebook friend is who they claim to be. Thanks to widespread data breaches, it is not difficult for scammers to get the information they need to compromise a Facebook account. If you receive a message from someone you have not spoken to in a long time, do not assume that the message is legitimate. The safest course of action is to simply ignore the message.
• Test them. If you do engage in a conversation and become suspicious, you can try to verify the identity of the person messaging you by asking them a question only they would know (i.e., who was our 9th grade English teacher?).
• Beware requests to take conversations off Facebook Messenger. Complaints we have received often describe requests to move conversation from Facebook (where they can be monitored) to text message. This is a big red flag for fraud.
• Anyone who asks you to send money to get money is swindling you. If you are asked to pay money to collect a prize, grant, stimulus check, or any other type of reward, it is a scam.
• Turn on two-factor authentication and encourage your friends to do the same. One of the reasons this scam occurs is that consumers tend to re-use passwords across multiple websites (your email and Facebook account, for example). That means that if your username and password are compromised at one website, scammers can use that information to try and compromise your account at other websites. An effective way to reduce the risk of this is to turn on two-factor authentication. This will require anyone trying to log in to your Facebook account to supply a special code (typically provided via text message or an authentication app) before they can log in.

Bonus Fraud Alert: Facebook copy/paste scams

If you have perused your Facebook newsfeed for any appreciable length of time, chances are that you have come across a message from a friend urging you to “copy and paste” their message instead of using Facebook’s “share” function. These “copy and paste” instructions often come at the end of a heart-warming, controversial, or political story.

These messages may seem innocuous and they may make you feel good by helping to spread a message you agree with. However, by copying and pasting a message instead of using the “share” function, you may be helping marketers (not all of who are legitimate) build lists of people to contact later with friend requests or other messages. A tell-tale sign of such scams is misspelled or unusual words or phrases in the text of the message. Including those in a message helps the scammers search on that misspelled word or phrase and easily build lists of the people who have helped to spread the message.

The easiest way to avoid this scam is to ignore any message on Facebook that urges you to “copy and paste” instead of “sharing.”

If you suspect that you have become a victim, report it immediately. You can file a complaint at Global Anti-fraud Hub via our secure online complaint form. We’ll share your complaint with our network of law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners who can investigate and help put fraudsters behind bars.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

The anatomy of the scam is highly consistent: a consumer receives a call from someone claiming to be with the electric utility company. The caller warns the consumer that their power is about to be shut off over an unpaid bill. The only way to avoid this is to pay up immediately, typically via wire transfer, gift card, or some other difficult-to-stop payment method.

Such a call can be very scary—particularly for those who may need electricity to power medical devices or run their small business. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumers are having trouble keeping up with their bills, which may make them even more vulnerable to this scam. And even for consumers who are confident they’ve paid their bill, the impending threat of a shut-off at the height of summer heat can cause a panic.

The story we received recently from a consumer in Detroit, Michigan is typical of these scams. She writes:

“I was called by [someone] claiming to be a manager for DTE stating that my bill had not been paid and my services were going to be shut off and would not be turned back on for another week if I didn’t pay him in 40 minutes. I was told to drive to a Speedway where I loaded $400 on to one card and $387.63 on the second card. I immediately gave the man the 14-digit code on the back and he advised me that services would not be shut off.”

To spot the red flags of these scams, and avoid becoming a victim, here are some tips that you can use:

• Don’t panic. According to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, electric utilities in all 50 states have placed moratoriums on disconnections during the COVID-19 crisis, either voluntarily or in response to government orders. If someone contacts you claiming that they’re about to shut-off your electricity, it’s a scam.
• Worried? Contact the power company. A utility will never initiate a disconnection without contacting you via the mail first. If you received a call from someone claiming they’re about to turn off your power, hang up and contact your electric company. Their toll-free phone number and website address is typically listed on your electric bill.
• Beware of unusual payment methods. Anyone who asks you to pay an overdue electric or other utility bill via wire transfer, gift card, bank-to-bank transfer, bitcoin, or any other unusual payment method is almost certainly trying to scam you.
• Do not give out personal information. Utility imposters may offer to connect their victims to federal assistance programs or payment plans to help pay their overdue bills. They just need to “verify” the victim’s information. In reality, these scammers are trying to gather the information they need to steal your identity. If you suspect something is amiss, hang up and call your utility company directly.

If you suspect that you have become a victim, report it immediately. You can file a complaint at Global Anti-fraud Hub via our secure online complaint form. We’ll share your complaint with our network of law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners who can investigate and help put fraudsters behind bars.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.