Fake toll, delivery, or bank alert text

• 'USPS: your package is on hold, confirm your address' with a link that isn't usps.com.
• 'Outstanding toll of $6.99, pay now to avoid a $50 late fee.'
• 'Did you make this $499 purchase? Reply YES or NO' from a number that isn't your bank.
• A page that asks for card details, then a one-time code 'to verify'.

Everyone has a package coming and everyone drives on toll roads. The message matches something plausible in your life, the fee is too small to think hard about, and there's a deadline. The link goes to a copy of the real site that collects your card and, increasingly, the code needed to add your card to someone else's phone wallet. Kits for these texts are sold ready-made and sent by the million.

• Don't tap the link. Open the carrier's or bank's own app or type the address yourself.
• Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), then delete it. USPS impersonation can go to spam@uspis.gov.
• If you entered card details, call the number on the back of your card and ask them to watch for wallet-provisioning attempts.
• Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Then add the number here.

More in the tips: Texts and calls.