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WENTZVILLE, Mo. – Wentzville resident Lisa Delaloye is waiting for a special delivery. The recent winter storm has delayed some mail deliveries in parts of the St. Louis area.
Delaloye was intrigued by a text message she received on Tuesday. The message read: “Since we missed you today, you can request a new delivery” by visiting a link.
The link was a scam. This led Delaloye to what was a very legitimate parody of the USPS website. The site then asked him for his credit card information to pay $3.30 for the new delivery.
“With today’s technology, you could fall into anything,” Delaloye said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
She reported the scam to both her local post office and the Wentzville Police Department.
“It looked exactly like the real website,” said Wentzville Police Sgt. Jacob Schmidt. He warns that credit card information in the wrong hands can lead to fraudulent charges and identity theft.
U.S. Postal Inspector and Fraud Enforcement Team Leader Matthew Villicana said the agency is aware of these types of scams. He said consumers should be aware that the USPS never charges for redelivery and that USPS officials never engage in communication with consumers for money or personal information.
Villicana also warns consumers to avoid responding to random text messages with links. He said consumers can report suspected fraud through the Postal inspector website.
Schmidt thanked Delaloye for taking the time to report the scam so others can be notified. He said: ‘If you think this is a scam give us a call and we can help investigate.
He added that consumers can report frauds, scams and poor business practices to the Federal Trade Commission. Click here to visit the site.
