In this day and age, receiving a text notification about a package you recently ordered isn’t out of the norm. After all, we all want to know precisely how many doors down our new sweater or coffee pods are, right?
However, if you’re a frequent user of FedEx and Amazon, consider yourself warned. You’ll definitely want to be wary of any texts that come in notifying you of your recent order.
A recent texting scam has just been announced that’s trying to disguise itself as FedEx or Amazon. And unfortunately, if you’re not careful, you might fall for it—since the notification that gets sent to you looks very similar to what you’d expect this kind of text to look like.
One Twitter user @r0wdy_ pointed out just how similar a real and fake text can look. Check it out below.
At first glance, which one is legit and which one isn’t? pic.twitter.com/UqDjnSxDd2
— The Cyber (@r0wdy_) January 17, 2020
How to tell if you’re being scammed
Luckily, there are a few main indicators of this scam to tell whether you’re being duped.
First off, the fraudulent text will contain a link that will take you to a fake Amazon page, prompting you to take a “free survey.” If you take the survey, you’ll be asked to enter your credit card information to pay for shipping. And if you do that, you’ll automatically be signed in to your account where you’ll be prompted to sign up to receive a product that has a hefty monthly price tag of $98.95.
Obviously, this is a surefire way to know it’s a scam. One of the easiest ways to tell if you’re being bamboozled is if you’re asked for credit card info and to pay any money, so that’s certainly a red flag. However, this could be easily missed, especially if you’re aimlessly clicking buttons because you really just want your sweater or coffee pods (hey, we’re all guilty).
In terms of this current texting scam, experts explain one more telltale sign to know if it’s a real notification text or a fake one: All you have to do is take note of the address bar in the link. If the URL has mention of Amazon or FedEx, or any other company name that the text is from, then it’s likely the real thing. However, if it doesn’t say the company name, then you can assume you’re dealing with hackers.
Lastly, FedEx nor Amazon wants to remind its customers that they never send unsolicited texts. So if you’ve never gotten a text from them before (e.g., you haven’t signed up for texting notifications), and you get this text, you’re almost certainly being scammed.
FedEx is asking customers to report any suspicious messages. Learn more about how to report a text here.
To hear more about the recent scam, check out the video below.
Have you been a victim of a texting scam before? Do you know anyone who has received a fraudulent text from FedEx or Amazon?