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VERIFY: No, USPS does not send customers links, delivery updates via text or email

U.S. Postal Inspector Adel Valdes and Kelvin Collins with the Better Business Bureau say these messages are scams -- don't click the link.

MACON, Ga. — Have you received a text or email about a delivery from the United States Postal Service (USPS)? Does that message ask you to click on a link?

We set out to verify whether these notifications are actually coming from the postal service.

Daniella Edmund is one of 10 Central Georgians who say they've been getting texts and emails from USPS.

“So first of all, I'm like, ‘Oh, I have a package that's coming,' or, 'I have this coming in,' when I go into my phone, and I look… ‘Oh, you have mail coming, but you got to click on this link,'” said Edmund, but she has her concerns -- she says she noticed some red flags.

“How did they get my phone number in order to send me the text message? Because, normally, they'll just have your mailing address, right?” Edmund said.

Are these texts and emails really coming from the postal service?

Kelvin Collins, President & CEO of Better Business Bureau Central Georgia, says these messages are scams -- don't click the link.

“Typically, the links are downloading malware onto your computer. Sometimes they'll just ask for personal information that they can use for identity theft,” said Collins.

Collins says his office has received about 100 reports of USPS scams. He says people have been more susceptible to this scam during the pandemic.

“Because there is more shopping online and there's more deliveries being made, so if you place an order and you place an order this week, and then, all of a sudden, you get an email or text message from the Postal Service saying that they're having trouble delivering a package, you may think, 'Oh, well, that's the package I ordered,'” he said.

U.S. Postal Inspector Adel Valdes sent us the following statement:

"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service as the law enforcement agency tasked with the security of the Postal Service and it's customers, is consistently educating customers about fake emails and text messages that pretend to be from USPS. The postal service does not communicate with customers about deliveries via email or text and definitely does not solicit personal information via text or email.  We ask our customers to examine the messages closely for grammatical errors and to verify the sender," Valdes said.

"Customers should also contact their local post office or the Inspection Service if they receive any emails or text messages about packages or deliveries.  To contact Postal Inspectors call 877-876-2455."

For more information from USPS regarding scams, visit here.

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