Smishing and vishing are on the rise and have the potential to show up on your USPS-issued mobile devices.
Smishing refers to text messages sent by online criminals to get victims to download malicious software or divulge passwords and financial account information.
Vishing is a term that combines the words “voice” and “phishing,” and involves callers who use spoofed phone numbers to make it seem like the calls originate from legitimate numbers or 800 numbers.
According to Lookout at lookout.com/form/the–global-state-of-mobile-phishing-report, smishing and vishing attacks increased sevenfold by the second quarter of 2022. Lookout calculated the potential annual financial impact of mobile phishing for an organization of 5,000 employees is nearly $4 million.
In addition to the above report, the 2022 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book states, “Americans lost over $330 million to text scams in 2022” (see ftc.gov/reports/consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-2022).
Unfortunately, some government employees have fallen victim to these scams, as well as quishing (fraudulent QR codes) attacks.
The CyberSafe at USPS® team advises employees and contractors to follow these tips:
n Be suspicious: Beware of phone calls or text messages that request personal or business information, or require you to take immediate action.
n Don’t click: Avoid clicking on suspicious links in unexpected or unsolicited text messages.
n Watch out for unknown numbers: Be cautious if text messages come from unknown numbers or numbers that don’t look like real phone numbers.
n Don’t reply: If you receive a suspicious phone call or text message, don’t reply or respond.
n Filter messages: Filtering unknown senders will block notifications from unsaved phone numbers, decreasing 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 > tap “Block Numbers” and then toggle the button beside “Block Unknown Callers” to green.
For more information, visit the CyberSafe at USPS pages on Blue (blue.usps.gov/cyber) and LiteBlue (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, 3-7-24
