Real USPS Informed Delivery emails preview mail and packages headed to your address. Criminals spoof that brand with “package held,” “customs fee,” or “update your Informed Delivery” links that harvest Postal credentials, card numbers, or one-time codes. Shipping-invoice cousins: Fake shipping and invoice scams. Account-takeover patterns: Phishing and account takeover. Broader map: Credit and debt scams.
Common Informed Delivery scripts
| Script | What you see | How you lose |
|---|---|---|
| Fake “package on hold / delivery attempt” email or SMS | Link to a lookalike usps-*.com or short URL | Card charged for a fake “redelivery fee”; malware or credential theft |
| “Confirm your Informed Delivery enrollment” | Login page that looks like informeddelivery.usps.com | Postal account takeover; mail-theft and change-of-address risk |
| “Customs / postage due - pay now” | Checkout asking for card or gift cards | Money gone; no real USPS receipt |
| QR on a printed “USPS notice” on your door | Code opens a payment or app-install page | Same as label/QR traps (shipping label and QR scams) |
| Follow-up “support” chat after you clicked | Remote access or gift-card “verification” | Full account drain (Gift cards and prepaid risks) |
USPS publishes Official Informed Delivery messaging and warns that the Postal Service will not ask you to pay unexpected fees by gift card, crypto, or wire. Open the real portal from a bookmark you saved, not from a cold text.
How to tell real USPS mail from a lure
- Check the domain carefully: official Informed Delivery lives on usps.com properties (for example informeddelivery.usps.com). Lookalikes swap letters, add hyphens, or use .net / .co.
- Hover links on desktop; on mobile, long-press and read the full URL before opening.
- Real delivery notices rarely demand immediate card payment for routine domestic packages you already paid to ship.
- USPS will not ask you to “unlock” a package with Apple, Google Play, or Steam card PINs.
- If you use Informed Delivery, log in through the official USPS app or a typed usps.com address and compare the preview to what the email claimed.
Worked example: the $9.99 “hold fee”
Priya gets a text: “USPS: Your package is held. Pay $9.99 redelivery - informeddelivery-usps-secure.com/pay.” The page asks for her Informed Delivery password plus a debit card. She instead opens the USPS app she already installed, sees no held package, and deletes the text.
If she had entered the password, attackers could watch her mail stream and attempt a change-of-address or package intercept. If she had paid the card, she would dispute with Chase or Bank of America the same day and still rotate the Postal password and enable multifactor authentication.
Safer habits
- Bookmark informeddelivery.usps.com (or the current official USPS path) and open only from that bookmark or the USPS app.
- Treat unexpected “postage due” texts as hostile until proven in the official app.
- Never pay shipping fees with gift cards or crypto ATMs.
- If a door hanger has a QR, type the tracking number into the USPS app instead of scanning.
- Keep MFA on your email and Postal accounts; email takeover often precedes fake Informed Delivery resets.
If you already clicked or paid
- Change your USPS Informed Delivery and email passwords from a clean device; review forwarding and recovery contacts.
- Call your card issuer from the number on the card; dispute unauthorized charges.
- Freeze credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion if you typed SSN or full application data (Credit freezes and fraud alerts).
- Report to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and USPS Inspection Service channels listed on usps.com (not in the lure).
- Do not pay a “recovery specialist” who cold-contacts you about the same package.
Checklist
- No card or gift card from a USPS text - open the official app instead.
- Compare every “held package” claim to your real Informed Delivery dashboard.
- Hover/check domains; usps lookalikes are a tell.
- Skip door-hanger QR payments; type tracking numbers yourself.
- Rotate credentials after any suspicious login page.
- Teach one household member the Informed Delivery bookmark rule this week.
Educational only. Not legal or fraud-recovery advice. Scam tactics change. Verify contacts through official USPS apps and usps.com, and report fraud to the FTC and your financial institution.