Information Security

Ongoing Threats: Smishing and Vishing

Smishing and vishing are cybercrimes that mislead people to disclose personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Smishing uses text messaging while vishing uses voice calls to organize cyberattacks. The attack messages and phone numbers appear to come from a reliable source to gain the victim’s trust and access their personal information.

According to this McAfee Blog (mcafee.com/blogs/internet-security/what-is-smishing), here are some examples of messages hackers could use to try to steal your personal details:

n “We have detected unusual activity on your account. Please call this number to speak to a customer service representative.”

n “You have won a free gift card! Click here to claim your prize.”

n “Hi! We noticed that you’re a recent customer. To finish setting up your account, please click this link and enter your personal information.”

n “Urgent! Your bank account has been compromised. Please click this link to reset your password and prevent any further fraud.”

Avoid smishing and vishing scams and keep the USPS^® network secure by following these tips:

n Don’t click: Do not open any link or attachment from a phone number you do not have saved in your contacts list or from a sender you can’t verify.

n Filter messages: Filtering unknown senders will block notifications from unsaved phone numbers, which decreases the likelihood of falling for a smishing scam. To filter unknown numbers, follow these steps:

n Apple users: Go to Settings > Messages and toggle on the “Filter Unknown Senders” option. This will create a new tab in your Messages app called “Unknown Senders.”

n Android users: Go to Settings > Spam Message Settings and select the “Block Unknown Senders” option.

For more information about cyberattacks, visit blue.usps.gov/cyber or liteblue.usps.gov/cyber, as well as the Monthly Awareness Campaigns page at blue.usps.gov/cyber/communications.htm.

— Corporate Information Security Office
Chief Information Security Officer, 6-1-23