USPS warning customers of 'brushing' scams
The United States Postal Service is warning about a rise in a variety of scams against customers.
"Brushing" scams are a growing concern.
The USPS has made thousands of arrests for mail-related crimes since the launch of "Project Safe Delivery."
TAMPA - The United States Postal Service is warning about new types of phishing and smishing scams against customers.
The agency says there are also growing concerns over new types of scams.
What we know
Postal officials say there are a variety of types of scams that they see, and that scams continue to evolve and become more sophisticated.
"Victims in our area have been defrauded through lottery scams, Publisher's Clearinghouse scams, romance scams," USPS Postal Inspector Damien Kraebel said.
The USPS says it commonly sees phishing scams through emails and smishing scams through text messages. The scams are all targeting customers' personal information.
Postal officials say there are several red flags to look for in any message you receive about tracking a package or claiming to be the USPS.
OTHER NEWS: Child injured in shark attack along Southwest Florida beach
"If it's got a country code on it, it's not from the U.S. Postal service, right?" Kraebel said. "If it has a country code from the Philippines, that we don't send text messages from the Philippines."
Kraebel says spelling or grammatical errors are also an immediate cause for suspicion. He says real messages from the USPS also never include links to click on.
The USPS says "brushing" scams are a growing concern.
These scams involve sending unsolicited items from a seller, who then posts fake reviews to boost sales.
"For example, in Publisher's Clearinghouse scams, the victim may be called on the phone to say that they've won that, but they may also receive mailings that appear to be from the publisher's clearinghouse," Kraebel said. "And they'll even come with a fake check."
Dig deeper
In 2023, the USPS launched "Project Safe Delivery", which targets mail-related crimes.
In its first year, the USPS says there was a 27% decrease in letter carrier robberies, and there were more than 2,800 arrests made due to mail-related crimes.
The scammers tailor their tactics to different groups and demographics.
"You might see younger people fall more for employment scams because they're seeking jobs, where elderly might fall more for romance scams or honoree scams," Kraebel said.
It's easy to fall victim to these scams, but it's not always easy to track down the person responsible.
Once your personal information is out there or your money is gone, postal officials say it's hard to get it back.
"They certainly don't make it easy," Kraebel sad. "And the nature of international telecommunications makes it difficult."
If you find yourself falling into one of these traps, postal officials encourage you to keep track of your credit accounts, annual credit reports and to freeze your credit if necessary.
The USPS also encourages people to forward USPS-related scam emails to spam@uspis.gov, and smishing scam texts to 7726.
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV
Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android
Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines
Download the SkyTower Radar app
Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Follow FOX 13 on YouTube
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
9 hours ago
- Miami Herald
A Tesla killed a man in the Keys, and a Miami jury sent a $243 million message
On Aug. 1, 2025, a federal jury in Miami sent a resounding message — not only to Tesla, but to the entire automotive industry. In a landmark verdict, the jury awarded over $243 million in damages after finding Tesla partially liable for a 2019 crash in Key Largo that killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, now 33, both of Miami-Dade. We are the attorneys who brought the case against Tesla on behalf of Angulo and the Benavides family. Our case showed that the Tesla Model S that hit our clients had detected the couple's parked Chevrolet Tahoe directly in its path on Card Sound Road, yet failed to brake or even warn its driver before striking the Tahoe at high speed. This Miami case marked the first time a federal jury weighed in on a fatal crash involving Autopilot and a third party. While the driver admitted fault, the jury determined that Tesla's system — and how it was marketed — shared responsibility. The outcome should represent a turning point in how we approach vehicle automation, corporate accountability and public safety. The verdict sends several clear messages to Tesla and the industry at large: Branding carries consequences: Tesla marketed its driver-assist system as 'Autopilot,' a term that implies self-sufficiency and full autonomy. That choice, and numerous other misrepresentations of the system's capabilities made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, created a false sense of security for Tesla customers. The jury recognized that words matter when they lead to behavioral risk. Marketing should follow engineering reality — not ambition. Withholding critical data is not acceptable: Tesla initially claimed that no data from the crash had been preserved. But our experts recovered video and performance logs showing the vehicle registered impending danger and did nothing. Jurors saw this as clear and convincing evidence that the car was defective. Technology does not absolve manufacturers of responsibility: Tesla's defense hinged on the driver's admitted distraction and carelessness. But the jury still found Tesla responsible for not building adequate safeguards into its system. A responsible automaker anticipates foreseeable misuse, and acts expeditiously to counter widespread misuse when it leads to injuries and fatalities. Punitive damages reflect societal concern: The $200 million in punitive damages is a signal that jurors believe Tesla needs to change. This level of award reflects the view that the company's approach to safety and disclosure failed a basic moral standard. When jurors respond with this level of force, they're speaking for more than the courtroom. Regulators and competitors are watching: We suspect this verdict will ripple far beyond one case in Miami. It invites deeper scrutiny from federal safety regulators and may prompt competing automakers to rethink their own driver-assist strategies. Future lawsuits will take a harder look at automation: Until now, many Autopilot-related cases were settled quietly or dismissed. This federal verdict sets a powerful precedent: juries are willing to hold tech companies accountable for systems that overpromise and underperform. The public expects more than innovation — it demands safety: Flashy tech, futuristic promises and rapid releases have long defined Tesla's brand. But this case reminded everyone that innovation without responsibility is dangerous. Companies must be honest about their limitations. Tesla is expected to appeal. Regardless, the message is out: 'Autopilot' isn't just a brand — it's a duty. And when that duty is breached, the consequences are both human and financial. The pain of that night will never be undone. But this verdict offers a path toward safer roads, better regulation and smarter technology. It is not a finish line, but it is a turning point — one that demands the auto industry match its innovation with accountability. Todd Poses, Adam Boumel and Doug Eaton are Miami attorneys who brought the case against Tesla on behalf of Dillon Angulo and the Benavides family.
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
‘Luigism' — meet the online ghouls who celebrate murder
A week after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down and left bleeding on a Manhattan sidewalk last December 4, Axios ran a poll asking 1,000 registered voters a question that, just a few years ago, would have been unthinkable: Was the killing 'justifiable' or at least 'somewhat justifiable'? Seventeen percent said yes. So 17 percent of Americans thought it was okay — or at least somewhat okay — to shoot an unarmed man in the back because he ran a major corporation. But that's not even the worst of it. Among voters age 18 to 29, a staggering 41 percent said the murder was acceptable or somewhat acceptable. That statistic alone should stop us cold. But instead, we got 'Free Luigi' rallies for Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate charged with pulling the trigger. At a court hearing in Manhattan, more than 100 women crowded the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mangione, as if they were teen girls at a Beatles concert. His legal defense fund has raised more than $1 million. Influencers swoon over his good looks. And, according to one report, 'the alleged killer has received so much fan mail in prison that he had to ask the public to stop sending him more than five photos at a time.' We've turned Mangione into a matinee idol — a martyr. Now something like that is happening again. This time, the victim was Wesley LePatner, a senior managing director at Blackstone, the giant global investment firm. She was 46, a mother of two, and a philanthropist. She was gunned down in the lobby of her midtown Manhattan office building by a mentally ill man on a murder spree. The shooter had the delusion that he suffered NFL-related brain damage — even though he had never played beyond high school — and apparently he blamed the league, which also had offices in the building. He had no idea who LePatner was. He didn't know she was an executive. He didn't care. But for some online ghouls, that didn't matter. According to City Journal's Jesse Arm, the internet vultures came out fast. Reddit, Facebook and X were filled with posts mocking LePatner, sneering at her success and calling her death symbolic retribution. One meme was a photo of LePatner with the word 'Luigi'd' in bright red letters stamped over her face. Another showed a star-shaped cartoon figure, colorful balloons in the background, the character smiling under the phrase 'CEO Down!' The new name for this grotesque movement? 'Luigism.' As Arm writes, Luigism doesn't require motive. It doesn't need facts. All it needs is a corpse and a job title. The people cheering this on aren't just angry. They're sanctimonious. They see themselves as warriors for the little guy, defenders of 'justice,' even as they cheer the death of a woman they never knew, for a job she did well. They think their self-righteous rage gives them moral cover to dehumanize — and, in some cases, even justify — the murder of people who happen to work for large capitalistic corporations. It's the kind of twisted logic that would make George Orwell blink and Karl Marx smile. And it's not just immature. It's immoral. Because once you start celebrating murder — once you turn real human tragedy into social media culture rot — you've crossed a moral line from which it's very hard to return. There's no courage in Luigism. There's no principle. There's just cruelty, dressed up as morality. And if we don't call it what it is — vile, delusional and dangerously un-American — it won't be the last time we hear sanctimonious fools cheer when someone else gets 'Luigi'd.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Brooke Hogan skipped Hulk's funeral: ‘He didn't want one'
Hulk Hogan's daughter Brooke skipped his funeral Tuesday, not because of her estrangement with the wrestling star, but because she says he never wanted one to begin with. The 'Hogan Knows Best' alum, 37, shared beachside photos of herself and the twin infants she welcomed earlier this year with former pro hockey player Steven Oleksy as she explained that she wanted 'to honor him the best and most genuine way I knew how…privately…the way that made me feel the closest to him.' 'My father hated the morbidity of funerals,' said Hogan, who last spoke to her father in September 2023 and that year requested to be removed from his will. 'He didn't want one. And although I know people grieve in many ways — and I'm so grateful for all celebrations and events organized to honor him. … The only thing missing today was him in his pop up lawn chair watching the waves… and the sunset. Daddy, we honored you in the simplest way that agreed with my soul. We took our babies to the beach, and put them in the same salty waters you loved.' Hogan added that her daughter Molly — who reportedly shares the WWE star's middle name, Gene — 'loved the water' and will likely 'be a 'little fish' as you called me. 'We love you and honor the things that made you so special. Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of being your beach baby, and brought us closer to you. I pray you are at peace and know how dearly I love you,' she said. Oleksy, 39, told Us Weekly last week that his wife decided to remove herself from Hulk's will because she and her ex-boyfriend, who is Black, 'never received a direct apology' for Hulk's racist rant about their biracial relationship in his leaked sex tape. Local authorities have denied that there was 'anything suspicious' about the 71-year-old's late July death, despite Brooke's skepticism.
