CLEVELAND (WJW) – 1/21/21 – The FOX 8 I-Team uncovered scams tied to massive delays with the mail. Crooks are trying to rip off innocent people tired of waiting for packages that seem to be lost.

Seems everyone these days is waiting for a package or something held up in the U.S. mail system.

Now, many people are finding messages popping up in phones and computers offering to help track down a package. But, con artists are sending links that turn out to be traps.

Ron Wilinski said he and his wife got one of these.

“We received a text message, we were eligible for reimbursement for a package that was lost. And, we were asked to provide personal information,” Wilinski said.

They deleted that message after they tried calling a number included in it and that number was out of service.

“If we hadn’t had time to check this out, we would’ve provided information and perhaps had our identity stolen.”

BeenVerified, a consumer data company, said it analyzed complaints nationwide about messages believed tied to scams revolving around packages.

“Delivery scams came out of nowhere,” said Richard Gargan, of BeenVerified. “In 2019 there were only just a couple hundred, maybe. But, they jumped up to about 8,000 text messages.”

So what if you’re waiting on something in the mail, and you get a message in your phone or computer? The U.S. Postal Service here in Cleveland said it is aware of these kinds of scams. The postal service said it would never contact you directly to ask for money or personal information. More at Fox 8 Cleveland