UPS scam text

How to tell

In order. The first one holds even when the rest of the message looks completely real, which is the situation most people are actually in.

1. Nobody can give you a tracking number that resolves on ups.com when you type it in yourself.

   UPS makes this a guarantee rather than a warning: "If UPS contacts you regarding a package, the UPS representative will always be able to provide a tracking number, which you can verify on our website." It works even if you are expecting a parcel and even if the message already contains a number, because the test is not whether a number appears but whether it resolves to your shipment when you look it up at ups.com yourself. That is one action with a yes or no answer, and it does not depend on judging how convincing the message looks.

2. It asks for payment in advance of delivery, or for account, invoice or login details.

   "UPS does not request payments, personal information, financial information, account numbers, IDs, passwords, or copies of invoices in an unsolicited manner through email, mail, phone, or fax or specifically in exchange for the transportation of goods or services." Do not over-read it, though: UPS says "Only a few packages require money for delivery: Collect on delivery, duties or taxes. Tracking your package is the safest way to see if any fees are due." So a fee is not automatically fake. What gives it away is being asked for the money through the message rather than finding it on the tracking page.

3. The link is not on ups.com.

   UPS says to use "ups.com" rather than a link embedded in another source, to be assured you are accessing an authorized UPS website, and it lists altered addresses such as unitedparcelservices.com among the signs of fraud. Weakest of the three, because a lookalike domain is easy to miss on a phone screen. Use it to confirm, not to decide.

What UPS actually does

Track it yourself. Type ups.com into the address bar, or open the UPS app, and enter the tracking number from your own order confirmation. UPS says tracking the package is the safest way to see whether any fee is genuinely due. If someone calls claiming to be UPS, UPS’s own advice is to ask for the caller’s first and last name and a call-back number, and to verify the UPS number and call back before going any further.

Where to report it

UPS

Its fraud page, at the Fight Fraud section of ups.com, carries an Email UPS link that opens a fraud report form. Reach it by navigating ups.com yourself rather than from the message.

Your mobile carrier

Forward the message to 7726, which spells SPAM on a keypad. It is free on every major carrier.

The Federal Trade Commission

Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. UPS’s own fraud page links to the FTC for this.