Print the postal label?

[Stephen Tashiro]

I received the following email from item_230@usps.com. It is incomprehensible enough to be a genuine government message, so I assume it is.

Postal notification,

Courier service couldn’t make the delivery of your parcel.
Status deny:An error at postal code.

LOCATION OF YOUR PARCEL:Plano
STATUS: sort order
SERVICE: Local Pickup
NUMBER OF YOUR PARCEL:

For the number, the email has a string of twelve letters and digits.

FEATURES: No

Label is enclosed to the letter.
You should print the label and show it in the nearest post office to get a parcel.

An additional information
If the parcel isn’t received within 30 working days our company will have the right to claim compensation from you for it's keeping in the amount of $14.25 for each day of keeping over limited time.

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for attention.
USPS Logistics Services.

"Your parcel" might refer to a package that I shipped or to a package addressed to my name. I'll assume it refers to a package I shipped. (I did recently mail via USPS two packages at a local UPS store. )

There was no attachment to this email. The "label" might refer to the " NUMBER OF YOUR PARCEL:.....". It would be natural for government document to identify something as "NUMBER" and then refer to it as "label", wouldn't it?

I didn't find any way to track the package on the usps.com webstie by using that number. So, should I print out the number and stand in line at the local Post Office?

[Phil Thien]

No. It is spam. May have had a virus attachment that was stripped-off by your anti-virus software. But it is NOT legit.

[Joe Pelonio]

I get spam/phishing e-mails daily to my business e-mail and most of them are similar but not only from USPS but also fedex and UPS. Also, some that are supposedly from Amazon saying that my order has been shipped though I never ordered anything. Watch out, it could be legit but may not be. Try hovering your cursor over any e-mail or website links in the e-mail and see if it shows in the lower left corner of the screen that it actually goes somewhere else. Not all do that, some do actually show the real website. What can happen is the "label" contains a virus, you click to open and get messed up. The postal service likes to send things though snail mail, not e-mail.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Thanks for the warnings. A search for "Print the postal label" turns up references to a scam - and the lines are so long at the local post office anyway.

[Don Alexander]

how would the post office have gotten your email address? if you can't immediately think of how that would have happened you have the answer to all your questions about this messages legitimacy without wasting any further thought on it

the post office does not communicate with individual customers via email; they put a pink slip / note in your mail box

this type email is definitely a scam and clicking on the "label" would have almost certainly unleashed a virus of some kind

[Stephen Tashiro]

how would the post office have gotten your email address?

I had the same question, but, as I said, I mailed the package the local UPS Store. UPS does have my email address. I haven't mailed a package at the real post office in years and I don't know what information they collect nowadays. If USPS can utilize email addresses then UPS might have passed mine on.

[Wil Limanen]

I retired about two years ago from USPS. I've never heard of them doing business like that. Also emails would probably be usps.gov instead of usps.com. And they wouldn't charge you for storing your parcel.

Wil

[Myk Rian]

If USPS can utilize email addresses then UPS might have passed mine on.

Don't be naive. Never will happen.

[Scott Shepherd]

Got that email about a year ago. I knew instantly it was a scam, so I deleted it. About 2 hours later, a co-worker comes over with a printed copy of it and hands it to me and tells me that there was a problem with a package I mailed. I asked where they got the email from and they said they got it from their personal email account. I asked how they thought the post office got their personal email address linked to our business shipping. There was silence. I went over and began removing the virus.........

I've taken the attitude that if anything is important, someone will call me. Other than that, I assume it's ALL junk for the most part.

My bank isn't going to seize my account without calling me.

My bank isn't going to ask me for passwords via email.

The postman comes to our office every day. If there's an issue, I suspect he'll tell us.

UPS comes to our office every day. I suspect we'll know if they tried to deliver something.

I don't have accounts with XYZ and PDQ banks, so why would I think that they would be sending me an urgent email about my account?

Why would I suspect MY bank would send me URGENT news via email?

Don't believe any of them.

[David Weaver]

I had the same question, but, as I said, I mailed the package the local UPS Store. UPS does have my email address. I haven't mailed a package at the real post office in years and I don't know what information they collect nowadays. If USPS can utilize email addresses then UPS might have passed mine on.

I think it's more likely that someone has gotten themselves in the pipeline of data between your payment for the label and your printing of the label, and sniffed off the email address illegally. Either that, or they have a virus on your PC or on a system where the label originated that does the same.

It never fails, when I ship a package and print a label from paypal, I get an immediate email that says that the package failed. My computer is generally clean, so I don't think it's on my end.