Scammers: You can’t fool me.

P

Packard

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Nov 6, 2020
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I got this text the other day.  Purportedly sent by the United States Postal Service.  A am expecting a package from Amazon which will be sent via the USPS.  But the scammers had one fatal flaw in their message. 

Note the phone number where the text originated from:  Country code 63.  The Philippines.  I doubt that a New Jersey based retailer selling through Amazon.com would route a USPS package through The Philippines.

Country Code for the cell phone number is a sure giveaway.

IqpDSEo.jpeg
 
I got pretty much the same phishing attempt yesterday.  Coming in with the same Philippine country code for the phone number.  Message was slightly different as was the link.  They've at least started their link with something that appears to be the US Postal Service, so they're improving their scams.

 
I got one of those a couple days ago, and this one this morning:
[attachimg=1]

Lots of mistakes:
  • Not from US phone
  • "FasTrak Lane" is not what they'd call it (they wouldn't include "lane")
  • "excessive" in front of "late fees" - they'd just say "avoid late fees"
  • "in time" instead of "on time"
  • Threatening legal action before the bill is past due
  • URL looks at a glance to be from toll roads, but clearly isn't
  • "exit the text message" - huh?
  • Directly mentioning a specific browser

On a related note, both a 88 year old neighbor and a 20 year old nephew got scammed this year. The neighbor was scammed with a bank account version where they contact you to tell you that you've been scammed and need to fix it. That was pretty complex as it involved multiple people at multiple phone numbers. He ended up getting frustrated with the instructions, luckily, and just drove to a bank branch, where it got sorted. Don't just call phone numbers they give you - look them up independently.

My nephew was blackmailed with threats to post nude pictures of him they AI-created on his own social media accounts. I don't know why he thought they had access to his social media accounts.

 

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I get those all the time.  USPS has a hard enough time delivering around here when they say they will let alone managing to send a text about a package.  Also, they don't have my phone number in order to send texts.

Peter
 
I went to the post office last year and they said that they don’t send text messages.  The mail post cards. 

The IRS is the same and they don’t initiate phone calls.

The New York State Motor Vehicle Bureau does use emails.  They send reminders when your vehicle is one more away from being renewed.  They send a second reminder if you don’t take care of it in a couple of weeks.

E-Z Pass sends notices by email.

Most government agencies still use the US Postal System for communications.  I wish there was a list showing which agencies use texts, emails, phone calls and US Mail. 
 
And TIL about something called a "Brushing Scam." Here's the USPS page on it (yes, it's really them as you can tell from the ".gov" extension):
https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/brushing-scam

Basically, you get stuff you never ordered and in trying to find out from where it came, you might scan a barcode on the package, etc., and they get information from you. Mostly to write a fake review online, but could get worse.
 
Your scammers aren't as switched-on as ours. All of our scam texts are routed through a gadget which disguises them as UK cellphone numbers which are all in the same format = 07XX-XXXXXX. Most all delivery companies send legitimate texts to customers containing tracking numbers etc. It makes it easier to be caught out if you're not tech-savvy. Same deal goes for hospital appointments, HMRC (tax), car licensing, a whole bucketload.
 
The URL's in these sorts of messages are always an immediate indicator it's a scam.
 
Oh yeah, the invalid zip
I get that text probably at least once a week now for a while. Got one earlier today actually.
As someone else mentioned, lots of grammar and use mistakes that become apparent if you actually slow down and read the text.
I always delete immediately. Also easy for me since I order almost nothing online.
I can see how people who order lots of stuff could fall for this. Also the younger folks who think they know everything but don't actually know how the system works.
funky, funky system.
 
Another scam to be aware of, at least, for those in states that use the E-ZPass toll system shows up in a legitimate-looking message that contains only a .jpg image, with no text.  The message states (in my case), "Your recent journey on the Virginia Toll roads has resulted in a charge of $4.15.  Settle your balance promptly to prevent any additional late fees.  To access your account and make a payment type this link into your browser. https://va-ex.com."  The URL shown is totally unrelated to the Virginia E-ZPass system, and the number from which it was texted is in Montreal, PQ, Canada.  This message has come through twice, both times from numbers in Montreal, NOT Virginia. 
 
The trick is to never use email or text links, find the website of the billing authentic website to check on charges
 
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