Are you expecting some holiday packages in the coming days? Millions of people are.
Scammers know that, and they are now targeting us with very slick looking delivery updates, designed to steal your credit card number or worse.
Bruce McGhee recently received a text saying his $1,500 Bosch dishwasher was on its way.
Only problem: he never ordered a dishwasher.
"It specifically mentioned an item," he said, "and I wanted to make sure it wasn't erroneous."
It wasn't an error, though. It was a scam to get him to enter his credit card info.
Luckily, he stopped before he did that.
David Landeen, meantime, almost fell for a text delivery scam, because it specifically addressed him by name.
"They knew my name, of course, they had to have my phone number," he said. "So, it looked like it could be legitimate."
How to know if a text or email is a scam
With so many packages from so many stores showing up at our doors in the next few weeks, you need to be especially on guard.
Some delivery alerts are legitimate, but some are not.
The biggest red flag? They need you to enter some personal or account information to track your package.
"USPS might send you a text that says 'here is the info on your tracking,'" Victoria Jurkovic of the Ohio Department of Commerce said.
"But even if you were not expecting a specific package that day, people are clicking that link," she said, which can be dangerous.
A legitimate delivery alert will tell you right away when the item is coming: you don't need to log in with personal information to learn the arrival date.
Jurkovic says any seller should already have your address and credit card, and should not require that info.
David Landeen admits it's tough knowing whether a message is real this time of year.
"In the back of your head you are thinking." he said, "maybe they really do have a package for me!"
Finally, to reduce your risk of being conned, make a holiday order folder in your email and put all orders there, so you'll know what should be coming soon.
That way you don't waste your money.
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