Postal Service warns of bogus delivery emails

NEW YORK — The U.S. Postal Service is warning its customers of a bogus email about a package delivery.

The scam

The agency said some customers are receiving emails that claim to be from the Postal Service and contain fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery.

The email contains a link that is presented as a way to find out more about the delivery, but in fact is a way to activate a virus that can steal information from a computer.

This type of email is known as “phishing,” and is a growing problem. The Better Business Bureau and the online ticket reseller StubHub are also recent victims.

The solution

The Postal Inspection Service advised anyone receiving the email to delete it without taking further action.

Some experts say it is best to delete an email like this from your “deleted items” as well, to make sure it is not activated.

If you have already clicked on a link in a fake Postal Service email or from another suspicious source, it’s important to change the password on your email account and warn people on your contacts list that your computer may be compromised. Also make sure your anti-virus and anti-malware software is up to date, and run a full system scan as soon as possible.

Report a problem

Problems with email related to the Postal Service may be reported to the Postal Inspection Service at spam@uspis.gov.

To report email scams from other sources, or to learn more about phishing and other online crime, visit the website of the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, at www.ic3.gov.