Is this missed package delivery text a scam?
The text looks routine. USPS, FedEx, UPS, or DHL could not deliver your package, and there is a link to confirm your address or pay a small redelivery fee, usually a dollar or two. Maybe you are actually waiting on a package, which is exactly what makes this one land. Almost every message like this is a fake package delivery text, and the carrier never sent it.
Here is the simple rule that settles it: USPS does not send tracking texts you did not sign up for, and no legitimate carrier asks for a card number by text to release a package. If the message arrived out of the blue and wants you to tap a link, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise.
How the fake package delivery text works
Scammers send these by the millions, because almost everyone is expecting something in the mail at any given moment. The link leads to a convincing copy of the carrier’s website, complete with logo and a tracking number. The page asks you to verify your name and address, then requests a small “redelivery” or “customs” fee by card.
The fee was never the point. The prize is your card number, billing address, and sometimes a one-time code that lets the scammer enroll your card in their own mobile wallet. A $1.99 fee on the screen can turn into thousands in charges once the card details are in someone else’s hands. Some variants skip the payment page entirely and just harvest logins or push you to install something. It is the same playbook as the fake unpaid toll and DMV texts, wearing a delivery label.
The tells that give it away
Look at the sender and the link before anything else. These messages often come from a random email address or a foreign phone number rather than a carrier short code. The link is usually close to the real thing but not quite, like usps-redelivery-notice dot com, or a long address where the carrier’s name appears somewhere in the middle. Real USPS web addresses end in usps.com, and the same pattern holds for fedex.com, ups.com, and dhl.com. A real missed delivery also comes with a slip at your door or an entry in the tracking you already have, not a text demanding money by tonight.
If you are unsure, do not decide from inside the message. Close it, go to the carrier’s website by typing the address yourself, and paste in the tracking number from your original order confirmation. If there is a genuine problem, it will show up there.
If you tapped the link but stopped there
Take a breath. Tapping a phishing link on a phone rarely causes harm by itself. The danger starts when you type. If you closed the page without entering anything, delete the text, and if you downloaded or installed anything along the way, treat that as a separate problem and remove it. If the link had you scan or came from a QR code on a package or notice, our guide on what to do after scanning a scam QR code covers the same cleanup.
If you entered card or personal details
Act on the card first. Call the number on the back, tell your bank the card details were phished, and ask them to cancel the card and reissue it. Watch the account for small test charges, which often come before the real ones. Card networks give you strong dispute rights for fraudulent charges, so anything that posts can be contested.
If you entered your Social Security number, date of birth, or a login password, go one step further. Change that password anywhere you use it, turn on two-factor authentication, and visit IdentityTheft.gov to place a fraud alert and get a recovery plan. Screenshot the text and the fake page if it still loads, because those captures are the evidence, and our evidence preservation guide shows how to keep them usable.
Report it, then delete it
Reporting these texts genuinely helps, because carriers and phone companies use the reports to block the infrastructure behind them. Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), which works on all major U.S. carriers. If it impersonates USPS, forward it to spam@uspis.gov, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Then file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and add a report at IC3.gov if you lost money. Once reported, delete the message so you do not tap it later by muscle memory.
If money already left your account and the charges are mounting, you do not have to sort it out alone. Our Investigation Help page explains what we can look at and when a case is worth investigating.
— Gus