A new text message scam

[oldbrownhat]

Apparently, in this case its known as "smishing". When I looked it up there were a number of articles from USPS, Snopes, Malwarebytes etc., so it's been around for a few months.

USPS has a web page with links to report such messages.

Here's what I got around 9:25am PDT today.

I live in Canada and almost never use my cell in the US when I visit my gf as I don't have roaming on my cell plan. Not that that makes much difference these days as I occasionally get calls from "The Deprtment of Justice"

 

[TJm15.38]

I get this kind of junk periodically. I just "delete and report junk."

 

[Onomea]

Yep. Same here. Wife, too.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have a 16 year old IT guru under roof that has made my smartphone virtually scam, spam, phish, smish proof.

He mows my lawn, too.

 

[oldbrownhat]

I have a 16 year old IT guru under roof that has made my smartphone virtually scam, spam, phish, smish proof..

In other words, he found the "OFF" button? He will go far . Mine is pretty well locked down and I get little spam. This was the first text message, though. Reported and deleted and back to regular life in the slow lane.

As with gun safety, much of the "...proofing" lies between the ears of the operator. But, as PT Barnum (or some say, his competior) said, "There's a sucker born every minute."

 

[coltle6920]

I find the "delete" button to be just as effective. Spam text msgs are rare for me. If it shows an actual phone # I'll block the number.

What I get a lot of are calls using a "VOIP" provider. They are instantly blocked as being possible spam.

 

[ladder13]

Pretty easy to spot, even a caveman can do it.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Pretty easy to spot, even a caveman can do it.

There are a lot of pre-Neanderthals out there who would click-before-thinking, though

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

That one, and variations, has been around for the past year or so. Seems like every other time I order something online, I get that message soon after.

John

 

[oldbrownhat]

That one, and variations, has been around for the past year or so. Seems like every other time I order something online, I get that message soon after.

John

"There is nothing new under the sun"... including spam.

I bet there's even stuff in Egyptian hieroglyphics they haven't deciphered yet. ("Guided Tours Of The Pyramids- only 53 stater. Send a prepaid cuneiform tablet to the followng address...")

 

[ladder13]

There are a lot of pre-Neanderthals out there who would click-before-thinking, though

Especially the ones who think they’re getting that pot o’ gold for free.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I get lots especially emails referring to all kinds of orders I placed (I didn't) saying I need to click on this link or that to verify this or that so my "order" can be properly delivered. also like TIMETRIPPER experienced I did in fact order something from the "Big A" yesterday and got 5 of the phishing emails today.

 

[oldbrownhat]

...also like TIMETRIPPER experienced I did in fact order something from the "Big A" yesterday and got 5 of the phishing emails today.

I get "spam" emails from the "Big A" fairly regularly, but in German (???) I use a VPN and when I log in, Amazon seems to get flustered, saying someone has logged into my account from wherever the VPN server is:

Jemand hat sich bei Ihrem Konto angemeldet.
Wann: Jun 16, 2024 12:22 PM Mountain Daylight Time
Gerät: Mozilla Firefox macOS (Desktop)
In der Nähe: Utah, United States

Wenn Sie das waren, können Sie diese Nachricht ignorieren. Andernfalls lassen Sie es uns bitte wissen.
​

They automatically go to my Spam folder. I do "ignore this warning" and it has no effect on my use of Amazon. If there was a simple way to contact CS I'd ask why I'm getting the notice in German, though. They come from "...amazon.com", not .... "amazon.de."

 

[pasound]

I have received only one similar scam on my phone, but get at least one or two a week in my email. Report, and delete without opening.

 

[OFT II]

I give them the address of our police department.

 

[arjay]

I had the same message a few weeks ago and since I had just got up and was expecting a few packages almost fell for it! My cynicism clicked in though and I googled it first lol

 

[TX-Dennis]

It's a common scam these days. Don't fall for it!

I assume nobody here is that . . . err . . . gullible, yeah that's it.

But obviously people do fall for these or they would quit trying it.

 

[DWalt]

I have received many similar messages. Usually regarding something I allegedly ordered from some online seller, which of course I didn't. I have always just ignored them.

 

[Skeet 028]

I ordered some bras for my wife from Amazon.. She won't order from online sellers. .Now I get advertising for women's underwear even on this site... very risqué' according to advertising of a few years ago. And I know I can become a contributor but the last time I did try my Paypal got hacked. Once bitten...

 

[Rustyt1953]

The silverback accepts both personal checks and poultry.