Black Friday Scam Texts to Delete Without Clicking

Delete any text that claims a package needs an address update, a fee, or a redelivery click — and any "fraud alert" or refund message that arrives with a link instead of pointing you to your own account. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service states plainly that USPS does not send unsolicited delivery texts and that its legitimate tracking messages never contain a link, which makes any USPS-branded text with a URL in it fake on its face.

That one rule covers most of what lands on a phone during Black Friday week, because delivery and refund messages are exactly what shoppers are waiting for. Fake package-delivery texts were the single most-reported text scam of 2024, usually linking to a look-alike USPS site, according to the Federal Trade Commission — and reported losses to text scams reached $470 million, more than five times the 2020 total.

Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on November 13, 2026.

The five scripts worth deleting on sight

The FTC's five most-reported text-scam types of 2024 — fake package delivery, phony bank "fraud alerts," unpaid-toll notices, "wrong number" openers, and fake job offers — together made up roughly half of all text frauds reported that year, per the agency's text-scam data spotlight. All five show up in a holiday inbox, and none of them require you to read past the first line. The delivery script is the specific one to watch in late November.

The FTC's holiday alert describes the wording: a text saying you missed a delivery, or that your package cannot be delivered until you "update" your street address or ZIP code, often with a threat to return the parcel to sender if you don't click immediately. The pressure is the giveaway. A real carrier that cannot deliver a parcel leaves a notice or holds the item; it does not give you a deadline measured in minutes to retype your address into a web form.

Why the week after Black Friday is the worst of the year

Amazon has reported that SMS grew from 3% to 13% of the scams reported to it over the year, and that phishing texts spike immediately after shopping events, when people expect delivery and refund updates. The company says it removed more than 70,000 phishing sites and 14,000 scam phone numbers in 2025, figures published on its scam trends page. The reason is timing, not cleverness.

If you placed six orders in two days, a text about "your package" is a reasonable guess rather than a cold call, and you are far less likely to stop and check which order it refers to. Text is also now the leading way fraud reaches people at all. Receiving a text message was the top reported contact method for fraud in 2025, the year consumers filed 3 million fraud reports and said they lost $15.9 billion, with $3.5 billion of that to imposter scams, according to the FTC.

Do not reply — not even "STOP"

The FCC's instruction is to delete without engaging: never click links or reply to unrecognized senders, and do not respond even when the message tells you to text STOP to opt out. A reply confirms a live number, which is worth something to whoever sent it. That advice cuts against habit, because "reply STOP" is how legitimate marketing lists work.

The difference is that a scam message has no opt-out to honor; the word STOP is there to sort working numbers from dead ones. Checking signs before you touch anything:

• A delivery notice that asks you to pay a fee, confirm an address, or re-schedule through a link
• A bank or retailer "alert" that arrives with a URL rather than telling you to open your own app
• Any text asking for payment details, a one-time code, or gift card numbers
• A "wrong number" message from a stranger that turns friendly and keeps the conversation going
• A shortened or slightly-off domain that resembles a carrier or store name

How to check a real order instead

Amazon states it will never ask by text for personal information, payment details, or gift card codes, and will never direct you to call a phone number; its guidance on identifying fake text messages says to check order and refund messages in Your Orders or Message Center instead. The same principle works for every retailer and carrier: go to the account you already have, through the app or a bookmark you typed yourself. For postal items, the test is simpler still.

USPS sends tracking texts only after you supply a tracking number, so an unrequested update is not from USPS regardless of how the message is formatted or which logo appears in it. If a message genuinely worries you — a charge you don't recognize, a refund you weren't expecting — close the text and open the account directly. Nothing legitimate is lost by ignoring the link, because a real notice will also be waiting inside the account.

Where to report the ones you get

Reporting takes about twenty seconds and feeds the carrier and agency blocklists. Forward the text to 7726 (which spells SPAM) to report it to your mobile carrier, and email a screenshot of postal fakes to [email protected]. Suspect messages that claim to be from Amazon can be forwarded to [email protected].

If money actually changed hands, file at reportfraud.ftc.gov or ic3.gov — the FBI's complaint center — rather than only reporting the text. One limit worth knowing as you read holiday coverage: no federal agency has published a Black Friday 2026-specific text-scam advisory, and the most recent federal breakdown of text scams by type still covers calendar 2024. The 2026 consumer alerts on the FTC's alerts index target adjacent lures — fake traffic-hearing notices in April, missed jury duty in June — so any season-specific volume figure for this month comes from private vendors, not regulators.

The scripts themselves have not changed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can deleting a scam text harm anything if it turns out to be real?

No. A real carrier or retailer notice is also recorded in your account or left as a physical notice, so you can confirm it there after deleting the message.

Why does a fake text sometimes know my name or city?

That detail does not prove the sender knows your orders. Names, cities, and ZIP codes circulate widely, and the FTC's 2024 data shows these messages are sent in bulk rather than aimed at individuals.

Is an unpaid-toll text the same scam?

It is one of the FTC's five most-reported 2024 text-scam types, alongside fake delivery notices, and it works the same way — urgency plus a link to a payment page. Handle it identically: delete, do not reply.

Does blocking the number help?

It stops that sender, but these messages rotate through numbers quickly. Forwarding to 7726 is the step that reaches your carrier's filtering.