To learn more about scams and schemes, and for tips on preventing them, please visit the United States Postal Inspection Service® website at https://www.uspis.gov/.  For images of fake emails and videos of public service announcements, see https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/fake-usps-emails.  USPS® does not charge a fee for redelivery. To learn more about mail fraud and how to report it, see Mail Fraud. To learn more about counterfeit postage, see Counterfeit Postage.

Common Scams & Schemes

Smishing / Texting Schemes

"Smishing", a form of phishing, is an unsolicited SMS (text) message. Victims will typically receive a deceptive text message that is intended to lure the recipient into providing their personal or financial information. These scams often attempt to impersonate a government agency, bank, or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims.

Common lures include “your account has been suspended”, “there is suspicious activity on your account”, "there is a problem with your shipping address" and “there is a package waiting for you at the Post Office.” 

To report USPS-related smishing:

• Please visit the United States Postal Inspection Service^® smishing page at https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/smishing/ for additional information and reporting steps.

Complaints of non-USPS smishing can also be sent to the following law enforcement partners of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

• The Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
• The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ic3.gov/Home/ComplaintChoice

Vishing/Phone Call Schemes

Vishing, short for voice phishing, is an identity fraud scam utilizing a phone call or voicemail. Scammers will call or leave a voicemail and impersonate someone they are not, and attempt to illicit sensitive information, like login credentials, personal identifying information, credit card numbers or other banking details.

These impostors may pretend to be Postal Inspectors, or other persons in USPS and USPIS positions of authority. They may attempt to coerce you with threats of arrest or some other punishment.

To report USPS-related vishing:

• Please visit the United States Postal Inspection Service^® vishing page at https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/vishing for additional information and reporting steps.

Complaints of non-USPS related imposter activity can also be sent to any of the following law enforcement partners of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service:

     •  The Federal Trade Commission at The Federal Trade Commission

     • The Federal Trade Commission at The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI), Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3)

Email Scams

Email scams can claim to be from the U.S. Postal Service and contain fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery or online postage charges. They usually contain a link or attachment that, when opened, installs a malicious virus or malware that can steal personal information from the customer's computer. The message is made to appear to originate from a number of false USPS.com email accounts.

To report email scams:

• Reporting instructions and additional information regarding email scams can be found at https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/fake-usps-emails. 

 

Scheme Alerts

• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service posts Scheme Alerts on its website to alert the public of the most recently identified scams.
• To learn more, please visit: https://www.uspis.gov/news/.

 

Cyberbullying and Threatening Letters

If you’ve received a threatening letter in the mail or encountered cyberbullying, and the U.S. Mail^® has been used in any way, report the incident using the "Report Now" link at the bottom the page at Threatening Letters and Cyberbullying – United States Postal Inspection Service (uspis.gov)..