Beware of Scam in Illinois Involving Amazon and Temu Package Shipments

Thieves are working around the clock trying to come up with new ways to trick you using all the latest technology and techniques to steal your identity and money.

Warning if You Ordered During Amazon Prime Days

Illinois and Wisconsin residents who order products online that are being shipped to their homes need to know about this latest scam that uses fake text messages about package deliveries.

Anyone Can Become a Victim of an Online Scam

You've probably gotten an email sometime in your life from a stranger in a foreign country who suddenly has access to unbelievable wealth. They just need YOU to help them access the money by sending the millions to your bank account in the United States.

RELATED: Fed Warn IL, WI Residents to Remove this Item From Wallet ASAP

So, all you need to do is send them your bank account information, and checking account routing numbers, and they'll need your social security number to verify the transaction because it's a large amount of money.

That scam seems pretty obvious to most, but it only takes one to give up the information and it's payday. Reports from CNBC have revealed these email scams make criminals upwards of $700,000 a year.

New Scam Uses Package Delivery Text Messages

I feel like I'm pretty skeptical about every email that I get originating from a source I don't know, and never click on any link that's inside of an unknown email message.

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But recently while waiting for an Amazon package to arrive, I received a text message from what appeared to be the United States Postal Service.

Knowing I had a package from Amazon that was scheduled to arrive the following day, I copied the link in the text message and as I was about to paste it into my browser, something told me it may not be legit.

So I jumped on my phone and opened the Amazon app to check my delivery status and there was no issue with my address.

These scammers somehow know to send these texts to people who are waiting for packages to arrive. Another text from a colleague who had a Temu order arriving showed just how easily you could believe these messages are legitimately from the postal service.

Less than 45 minutes after a scam text arrived, a REAL message from Temu came through about a partial package arriving. Scams are getting more sophisticated and harder to disseminate.

BBB Says This Scam is Called 'Smishing'

SMS stands for Short Message Service, and SMS Phishing is called 'Smishing.' This is when a scammer uses a text message or phone number to "lure recipients into providing their personal or financial information," according to Fox 32.

CLICK HERE to See All Existing Scams from the Better Business Bureau