With the festive season in full swing, the specter of phishing attacks has prompted Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to caution residents about heightened scam activities, particularly around package deliveries. In a consumer alert, Nessel shed light on the myriad ways fraudsters are using smishing—a form of phishing via text message—and email scams to exploit consumers' online shopping habits and the trust placed in delivery services such as USPS and Amazon.

According to the Michigan Department of Attorney General's Office, these scammers craft messages that seem authentic, luring victims to fake websites aiming to harvest credit card numbers and other personal details, in the scam's masquerade some texts falsely alert consumers of a delayed package, and ask for a purchase to provide updates, essentially mining for sensitive information. "The increase in online shopping and home deliveries has provided opportunities for criminals to masquerade as delivery companies," AG Nessel warned. She further advised against clicking any links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails or texts, which may direct users to fraudulent sites or infect devices with malware.

Victims encountering such deceptive texts are urged to forward them to SPAM (7726) and then report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), while suspicious emails should be sent to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. Consumers also need to be wary of dubious phone calls, with the advice to disconnect immediately and never provide personal information to unsolicited callers, as legitimate entities do not operate in such a manner.