U.S. Postal officials are sending out a message to customers in the wake of the discovery of a scam about packages and postage charges.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has reported that some customers are receiving bogus emails that contain a link or attachment that, when opened, installs a malicious virus that steals information from personal computers.

The emails, which claim to be from USPS, include a label with fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery and “online postage charges.” Customers are told to click on a link, open the attachment or print the label.

USPS has added a red banner to the top of the usps.com home page that draws attention to this scam. The banner links customers to the Postal Inspection Service’s Crime Alert page.

USPS is advising retail associates who receive a bogus shipping label to take the following actions:

• Do not scan the fictitious barcode. The scan will not harm postal computers. But it will transmit erroneous data to the Product Tracking System.
• Inform the customer presenting the barcode that it’s a scam.

Anyone receiving an email fitting this description should forward it to spam@uspis.gov.