A new phishing scam masquerading as a text message from FedEx is making the rounds and attempting to steal personal information from recipients.
The fraudulent text appears to show a standard FedEx tracking code, but prompts users to enter additional “delivery preferences,” ABC News reported. If you’re familiar with phishing, you probably know where this is going.
That “delivery preferences” link actually leads to a fake webpage run by the scammers. From here, they’ll try to glean personal or financial information from the recipient of the scam.
While many phishing scams are fairly obvious when you keep a few details in mind, the rise of SMS-based alerts and messages have certainly muddied the water a bit.
Some Amazon users, for example, may be familiar with receiving text messages from Prime delivery drivers when they need help locating a residence. While initially suspicious, these text messages are actually legitimate.
FedEx, on the other hand, says it’ll never send unsolicited texts or emails to customers that request any personal information or money.
It may be getting a bit trickier to differentiate legitimate texts from phishing attempts, but here are a few things to keep in mind that could help you avoid getting scams.
- Look at the URL. If the text claims to be from FedEx, the URL should say fedex.com — not a weird offshoot like “fedx” or “fed-ex.” Same goes for Amazon.
- Don’t give in to urgency. Most phishing attempts rely on a sense of urgency to scam users. Anything that puts a short time limit on a response is cause for suspicion.
- Avoid giving personal information or money. Reputable companies won’t ask for money, your social security number, or other information to deliver a package. If a text asks for these, don’t click on any links and just delete it.
- Look at the spelling. You don’t have to be an English whiz to spot typos or other grammatical errors in a phishing attempt. Any such mistake in a text is probably a sure sign that it’s a scam.
Again, the best piece of advice is to be slightly suspicious of any unsolicited communication. If you have any doubt at all, delete the message and contact the company through a verified medium.