Got a Text Saying My USPS Package Couldn't Be Delivered. Is It Real?
TL;DR
- A text saying your USPS package couldn’t be delivered, with a link to “confirm your address” or pay a small fee, is almost always a scam.
- USPS says it only texts after you request tracking updates with a tracking number, and those texts do not contain a link.
- FedEx says it does not ask for account credentials or identity details by text, and only sends a secure link for duties on international packages.
- Don’t tap the link. Check the package on the real carrier site, then forward the text to 7726 and delete it.
- One step today: open Settings, tap Apps, tap Messages, then Unknown Senders, and turn on Screen Unknown Senders.
You got a text. “USPS: Your package could not be delivered due to an incomplete address. Confirm here within 12 hours.” There’s a link, and you might actually be waiting on something.
That’s the whole trick. It works because sometimes you are.
Is a “package couldn’t be delivered” text real?
Almost never, if it has a link.
The US Postal Inspection Service is blunt about this. USPS will not send text messages or emails unless you first requested the service with a tracking number, and the message will not contain a link. So a text out of nowhere with a link and a deadline fails USPS’s own test on two counts.
FedEx draws a similar line. Its fraud page says it does not request account credentials or identity details by unsolicited text. The one exception: on an international package, FedEx may send an email or SMS with a secure link to pay duties and taxes. That exception is exactly what scammers lean on, so even then, go to fedex.com yourself instead of tapping.
The pattern is the same across carriers. Real tracking texts tell you something. Fake ones want something from you.
What the scam actually does
The link goes to a lookalike page. It might copy the USPS logo, the font, even a fake tracking number. Then it asks for a “redelivery fee,” usually a dollar or two, and a card number to pay it.
The fee is not the point. The card is.
Once they have your card number, the expiration date, and the code, they run real charges, or they push the details into a digital wallet on their own phone. Some versions skip the card and ask you to sign in to an account, which hands over your password instead.
The scale is not small. The FTC reported that text scam losses hit $470 million in 2024, more than five times the 2020 figure, and it notes that most fraud never gets reported at all. Fake package delivery notices are one of the most common versions. Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 found fake USPS pages were the single most impersonated brand in one smishing operation tied to 194,345 malicious domains.
And it’s about to get worse. Shipping volume climbs toward the holidays, and the more packages people expect, the more likely a fake notice lands on someone who is waiting for one.
How to check a real package in 60 seconds
Skip the text entirely. Open Safari and type the carrier’s address yourself: usps.com, ups.com, or fedex.com. Paste in the tracking number from your order confirmation email, not from the text.
If you don’t have a tracking number, you probably don’t have a package problem. Check the retailer’s order page. If the order shows delivered or in transit, you’re fine. If you never ordered anything, that settles it.
You can also call the carrier using the number on its official site, not one from the message.
What to do with the text
Three moves, in order.
First, don’t reply. That includes “STOP.” Replying tells the sender your number is live.
Second, forward the message to 7726 (it spells SPAM). The FTC lists this as a way to help your carrier block similar messages. If it’s a USPS text, you can also email a screenshot showing the sender’s number and date to spam@uspis.gov, which is the address the Postal Inspection Service gives for smishing reports. For other cases, report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Third, delete it.
On iPhone, if the text came by iMessage from someone not in your contacts, Messages shows a Report Junk link under it. Tap that. It only appears for iMessage, so regular SMS spam goes through 7726 instead.
What if you already tapped the link
Breathe. Tapping alone is usually not the disaster. Entering information is.
If you only opened the page and closed it, you’re most likely fine. Don’t enter anything, and don’t go back to it.
If you typed in a card number, call the number on the back of the card now, tell them you entered it on a fake delivery page, and ask for a new card. If you typed a password, change it on the real site, and anywhere else you reuse it. We walked through the full sequence in what to do if you clicked a link in a spam text.
Why it keeps coming back
You can report and delete forever. The texts rotate through new numbers and new lookalike domains faster than any one person can keep up with. That’s the same reason blocking a single number doesn’t hold.
What stays constant is the wording. “Package,” “undeliverable,” “confirm your address,” “redelivery fee.” Filtering on those words catches the next version before it has a chance to look believable. If you want to set that up yourself, the steps are in how to block spam texts by keyword on iPhone.
For the baseline, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Messages, then Unknown Senders, and turn on Screen Unknown Senders. It sorts texts from people outside your contacts into their own tab so a fake carrier message isn’t sitting next to your real conversations.
Not Today is a free spam-blocking app for iPhone. We built it to catch spam before it reaches you, using keyword rules, a community database of reported numbers, and optional AI detection. No account required. Download on the App Store.