Consumers Warned About Fake ‘Missed Delivery’ Alerts on the Phone; How to Avoid Such Scams

Mississippians warned about "missed delivery" alerts on the phone

Attorney General Lynn Fitch asked Mississippians to be aware of unsolicited "missed delivery" alerts on their phones as they are just another form of scam. "Sadly, the holiday season is a prime-time opportunity for scammers. Knowing consumers are eagerly anticipating the arrival of packages before the holiday, bad actors send unsolicited texts and emails urging you to click on a link to locate a missed or delayed delivery. Beware: this is likely a scam and you should not click on these links or provide any personal or financial information. One bad click could lead to malware, fraud, and identity theft. Familiarize yourself with these common tactics to avoid these scams," he stated per WJTV.

What is the Card Draining Scam?

The scams begin with a seemingly harmless message or an email that will tell you that one of your packages has gone missing. These messages will often include a tracking link but no matter how much they ask you to click the link, the best idea is to refrain from doing that. In some cases, the victims have also received a voicemail that told them the same thing about a missing package. So, you might also get a voicemail message with a call-back number or a missed delivery tag on your door with a number or a call. 

Steps to avoid scams

Here are certain red flags to watch out for.

Tone of Urgency – You will notice that often these shady calls ask you to do something with a sense of urgency. Refrain and avoid at all costs. 

Straightaway asking for information, be it personal or financial – Always look out for people who ask you to provide them with any kind of personal or financial information like date of birth or bank account number. 

Always look at the link closely – If a scammer pretends to be from a company that you already know and are associated with in any way, try and double-check the link as there will be something altered or a grammatical error in the link. For example, fedx.com or even fed-ex.com.

What to do if you suspect a scam?

Scamming anyone is not as easy as it once used to be as people are gaining exposure by the day which is helping them to avoid scams. However, if you sense that you have been scammed in any way, there are certain steps you can immediately take. The thing is that fraudsters have realized that scamming is not as easy as it once used to be and therefore they are also polishing their techniques and becoming more sophisticated. Here are certain steps you should take after you suspect that you have been scammed.

If you have already paid the scammer – The best thing to do in this circumstance is to contact the bank that has issued you the credit card or debit card. You can always ask them to reverse the payment and give you your money back. 

If you have provided them with your personal information – In this case, you should head to IdentityTheft.gov and see what steps you can take. However, if you have paid via crypto, know that reversing a cryptocurrency transaction can be a task and it is often irreversible. Make sure to never pay through crypto when you are sending in money remotely and to unverified sources. 

Other than this, you can always report a scam. All you have to do is collect all the information you have and share the data with FTC. Here's the link where you can report any kind of fraud, ReportFraud.ftc.gov.