Lewis County Sheriff Johnny Bivens is warning the public about a scam involving fake emails made to look like they are from the US Postal Service, including the Postmaster General.
Bivens said USPS officials have said they will not reach out to customers to ask for money or personal information through an email.
Emails with subject lines such as “Delivery Failure Notification” could include a link that, when clicked, activates a virus to steal personal information, such as passwords or financial details.
The Postal Service also does not alert customers of package delivery attempts via email, he said.
“We should never blindly provide personal information through email,” Bivens said. “We must know who we are providing our information to and be vigilant about it.”
He said there have been local reports of these types of scam email attempts.
In some of the emails, the scammer claims to be the Postmaster General. The scammer notifies the recipient about an failed attempt to deliver a package worth $100,000 and asks for personal information in order to deliver the package.
USPS says this type of email is a scam and adds they would not reach out directly to demand money.
Other scams include emails asking for payment on unpaid online postage charges or requesting the recipient confirm their delivery information by downloading an attachment.
The downloaded attachment can activate a virus and steal personal information like passwords, usernames and financial account information.
USPS has some tips on how to protect yourself from email scams:
• Do not give out personal information over email
• Poor grammar and spelling errors in an email can indicate it is a fraudulent email
• Be wary of urgent emails or emails that require “immediate action”
• Forward emails you think could be spam to spam@uspis.gov then delete the email.
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