Don’t Fall for a Shipping Scam This Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches, many of us will be shopping for gifts, and many of those gifts will be bought online. All those online orders can add up fast, and before you know it, you have a huge number of packages showing up at your door, and an equally long list of shipping details in your inbox.

But all that shipping chaos is the perfect environment for scammers to jump in, hoping to catch you off guard, and, in the process, steal your sensitive or financial information. Don’t fall for it. Here are some of the top shipping scams to watch out for this holiday season:

Incorrect address scam

You might receive a message (usually a text) purporting to be from a shipper—say, USPS. The message regrets to inform you that your package cannot be delivered as expected, since your address is incorrect. Thankfully, the USPS has included a link to their website in the text, so you can simply update your address there.

Don’t bother: It’s a scam. Phishers want to get you to a fake website that looks like the shipper’s real page, and share your private information with them.

Failed delivery scam

Similarly, you might receive a message saying that the shipper tried delivering to your house, but, for some reason, the delivery could not be made. Luckily, there’s a convenient URL for you to arrange a new shipping date.

Again, ignore this message. While failed deliveries happen, the shipper will likely not text you. Instead, you’ll get a missed delivery slip on your door, which will have the instructions for you to pick up your package or set up a new delivery time.

QR code scam

You find a package on your doorstep, but you didn’t order it. When you open the box, among the product itself is a QR code, which you “need” to scan in order to see who sent you the package.

Don’t scan it: That QR code is almost certainly malicious, leading to a website where phishers are waiting to take down your information, or even install malware on your device.

Porch pirates

“Porch pirates” are not so much a scam, as something to watch out for. If you leave packages on your doorstep unattended, these “pirates” may pass by and steal them. To protect yourself, try to limit the time packages sit outside your house—especially if your door is in a highly visible public area.