USPS scams
Last updated September 18, 2026
The short answer
The USPS scam is a text saying a package is held and a small redelivery or address fee is due. USPS does not text about delivery unless you signed up for tracking alerts, never charges a redelivery fee by text, and never sends a link to pay one. The small amount is the point — it gets a card entered without a second thought.
The "your package is on hold" text is the most-sent scam message in the United States, and it works on arithmetic rather than on cleverness: at any moment a large share of adults genuinely are waiting for a parcel, so a message about one is not surprising. The fee is deliberately trivial — $1.99, $3.30 — because a card gets entered for a few dollars where a few hundred would prompt a phone call. The card number is the product, not the fee.
How USPS scams work
- 1
The text arrives
A message says a package could not be delivered because of an incomplete address, or is being held pending a small fee, with a link to resolve it. The sending number is often an ordinary mobile number or an email-to-SMS gateway.
- 2
A convincing tracking page
The link opens a page carrying real USPS branding, sometimes with a plausible tracking number and a map. It asks you to confirm your address, then to pay the fee.
- 3
The card capture
The card is charged the small amount, or nothing at all, and the full number, expiry, security code and billing address are collected. Those are sold or used within hours — frequently for purchases far larger than any fee.
- 4
The identity follow-on
Because the page collected a name, address and phone number alongside the card, the same details support later calls that sound informed, and card-on-file signups elsewhere.
Warning signs
- A text about a package asks for a small fee through a link
- You are not expecting a package, or cannot match the tracking number to an order
- The link is not usps.com — look for extra words, hyphens or unusual endings
- The message came from an ordinary mobile number or an email address
- The tracking number does not match the format on any of your orders
- You are asked to confirm your address before being shown anything
- The message creates a deadline — "your parcel will be returned in 24 hours"
Examples
The $1.99 that cost $2,400
A text reports a held package and a $1.99 address-correction fee. The page looks like USPS tracking and takes a card. The $1.99 never posts. Two days later the card is used for $2,400 across three online merchants, and the address and phone number collected alongside it turn up in a "fraud department" call the following week.
Expecting a parcel
A shopper with two genuine deliveries pending receives the text and does not question it — the timing fits. The tracking number in the message matches nothing they ordered, which is the only tell available, and it is one almost nobody checks in the moment.
What to do
- Do not tap the link. Check any real tracking at usps.com or in the USPS app, typed yourself.
- Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) and to spam@uspis.gov with the sending number, then delete it.
- If you entered a card, cancel it — do not wait to see what happens. The number is already in circulation.
- Dispute any charges; fraudulent card charges are covered by your issuer.
- Report at uspis.gov/report. Postal Inspectors run real investigations into these campaigns.
Report it to USPS
Forward the text to spam@uspis.gov with the sending number, and file at uspis.gov/report.
Getting your money back
Cancel the card rather than monitoring it: these pages exist to harvest numbers in bulk, and the number is sold whether or not a charge appears. Dispute anything that posts — fraudulent card charges are covered under zero-liability rules and Regulation E for debit. Treat the name, address and phone number you entered as exposed, which means the next call that "knows things about you" is explained rather than convincing. Forward the message to 7726 so carriers can block the sending number, and report at uspis.gov/report, which is a real investigative channel rather than a suggestion box.
Frequently asked questions
Does USPS ever text about deliveries?
Only if you signed up for USPS Informed Delivery or requested tracking alerts on a specific package — and those never ask for a payment or link to a card form. USPS does not charge redelivery fees by text, full stop.
Why is the fee always so small?
Because it is a threshold problem. A few dollars does not feel worth checking, while a few hundred prompts a phone call. The fee is not the revenue; the card number, the billing address and the phone number are.
I tapped the link but did not enter anything. Am I at risk?
Almost certainly not. These pages harvest what you type — visiting one does not install anything on a modern phone. If you entered a card or personal details, act on those; if you only looked, delete the message and move on.
How do I check whether a package is really held?
Open usps.com or the USPS app yourself and enter the tracking number from your own order confirmation. If you cannot match the tracking number in the text to something you ordered, that is your answer.
Other companies scammers impersonate
Scams reuse their scripts across brands. If you were contacted about USPS, these are the guides worth reading next.