Exposed Check

USPS scam text

This is a scam text pretending to be the United States Postal Service. USPS is not sending it.

Not confirmed lately. The most recent dated source we can point at is May 19, 2025. That does not mean it has stopped, and the tells below do not expire. Why this says that.

What the message claims

That a package cannot be delivered, or that a delivery needs a response from you, and that you must follow a link to confirm an address, pay a small fee or reschedule.

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. The message contains a link.

    The Postal Inspection Service says a real USPS message "will NOT contain a link", with no exception. This holds even if you are expecting a parcel and even if you did request tracking, which is what makes it the one tell worth remembering.

  2. You did not ask USPS to text you about this tracking number.

    USPS does not text or email customers without the customer first requesting the service with a tracking number. An unsolicited message is not from them.

  3. The link is not a usps.com address.

    Scam links usually sit on a lookalike domain or a link shortener. This is the weakest of the three tells, because a convincing lookalike is easy and you have to read carefully to spot one. Use it to confirm, not to decide.

What USPS actually does

Nothing, unless you asked first. If you are expecting a parcel, open usps.com yourself or use the USPS app and enter the tracking number from your order confirmation. Never reach the tracking page through a link in a message you did not ask for.

Where to report it

The Postal Inspection Service
Email spam@uspis.gov. Without clicking the link, copy the body of the message into a new email, give your name, and attach a screenshot showing the sender’s number and the date.
Your mobile carrier
Forward the message to 7726, which spells SPAM on a keypad. It is free on every major carrier.

Where this comes from

Source
United States Postal Inspection Service
First seen
January 12, 2021
Last confirmed active
May 19, 2025 not confirmed lately
Source checked
October 6, 2026

“USPS will not send customers text messages or e-mails without a customer first requesting the service with a tracking number, and it will NOT contain a link.”

We mark a campaign not confirmed lately once the most recent dated source we can point at is more than 180 days old. This one is 508 days. It is a statement about the published record, not about the scam: organisations tend to post undated standing advice, and agencies cover a given campaign about once a year, so a gap here is normal and is not evidence the messages stopped. We would rather show you the gap than put today's date on a page we did not actually re-check today.

This record was compiled from the source above and has not yet had a second pair of eyes on it. Read the quoted line rather than taking our summary of it.