Viral USPS Phishing Scam Not Linked To Sex Trafficking

Conspiracy theorists have gone phishing.

A viral phishing scheme, in which a text message claiming to be from the USPS instructs recipients to follow a link regarding a lost package, went viral over the past few weeks, after a false claim about a connection between the scheme and sex trafficking networks. There isn't a link. The message is just SPAM. However, because of viral Instagram posts that purport this connection, support networks have been overrun with calls, potentially shutting out actual victims, according to a report by Insider.

One popular Post comes from @gialure, who, on September 1st, claimed that a text message reading "gia, important notice about the USPS pagage 2l57I7 from 03/26/2020" came from a sex trafficker attempting to locate her. She writes, "the message will send you to a link to 'track your package', and apparently, once you open the link your location will begin to be immediately tracked."

Polaris, the agency that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline, was already aware of the scam by the end of August. They received enough calls to release a statement, dispelling rumors of a connection between spam and sex trafficking, warning that misinformation does more harm than good.

"Handling a surge of concern over viral social media posts makes it far more difficult for the Trafficking Hotline to handle other reports in a timely manner and might result in wait times for people who have a limited window of opportunity to reach out safely," Polaris wrote in the statement.

The lack of evidence hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists, though. The Post received more than 100,000 likes.

Phishing schemes typically aim to retrieve the victim's personal information or install malware on their device. Gizmodo writes, "What happens next is up to the scammer behind the text, but generally they're trying to get your credentials--most often in the form of a credit card number. In the example security researcher Eric Ellason unearthed in this tweet thread, the link that supposedly provided access a supposed USPS shipment actually led to a domain that did nothing but infect your browser (or phone) with malware."

BREAKING!! New SMS phishing campaign pretending to be from the United States Post Office being pushed out to cell phones today. So far the link in the SMS being used is this domain m9sxv[.]info. Here are a couple of sample texts we have collected. #infosec #malware #smish #osint pic.twitter.com/90xSWYCUbZ

— Eric JN Ellason (@SlickRockWeb) September 15, 2020

The rumor also puts more undue pressure on the USPS. Over the past six months, budget cuts hindered the agency, delaying mail and overwhelming the system. Today, the Washington Post reports that policies enacted by controversial Postmaster General Louis Dejoy 7 percent of the country's first-class mail.

"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's controversial midsummer operational directives delayed nearly 350 million pieces, or 7 percent, of the country's first-class mail in the five weeks they were in effect," writes the Post.

The last thing the agency needs are conspiracy theorists accusing the USPS of engaging in sex trafficking, especially as they gear up for the November election, much of which is likely to take place by mail.