Genius scam - Text from USPS from the Phillipines

[masraum]

This is awesome.

I have received similar 2-3 times in the past month.

Texts from the Philippines that are supposedly from the USPS. (and yes, the screenshot does show "To: +63.....", but that same number is also the number that the text came from)

[Jeff Higgins]

I've gotten dozens of those, as has my wife. Certain on-line retailers seem to have been hacked, or intercepted, or whatever the term might be. If you actually open the link (which we never have) I'm told it will ask for a "nominal fee", like 25 cents be paid. With a credit card, of course...

[GH85Carrera]

I received it as well. I just deleted it and reported it as spam.

[LWJ]

Funny. I have this exact one in my in box as I type. I didn't care. I figured USPS would sort it out.

[wildthing]

Good on you to not fall for these. As a reminder:

1. Check sender. The fact that it comes from a non-US area code is a giveaway.
2. Check the links. The legit websites are usually company.com/thensomething, however, this is not a foolproof check as you could have a displayed text and an actual link. DO NOT CLICK ever. If you are indeed expecting something from a merchant, go to the merchant website directly first and get the tracking from there.
3. This one has pretty good grammar. But USPS doesn't sign "The US Postal Team", which makes it suspicious.

[sc_rufctr]

All unsolicited text messages are now suspicious. I don't interact with any of them. Instead I call the company direct or contact them through their web page.

[A930Rocket]

^^^ I treat every text and email like that as suspicious and delete them.

The USPS text must be something new, as I’ve been giving them lately.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

^^^ I treat every text and email like that as suspicious and delete them.

The USPS text must be something new, as I’ve been giving them lately.

I think I've only seen them in the past two months. I'm assuming they are new or more wide spread this holiday season. Folks are more likely to panic and be caught by them if they think there's a problem with incoming Christmas presents.

[Cairo94507]

I got the same one yesterday; reported it as SPAM. I wish we could dispatch a team that would terminate w/extreme prejudice all of these POS people anywhere in the World.

[GH85Carrera]

It still is not as annoying as the constant call for car warranties. Those finally stopped when the comedians and media started mocking them.

I was waiting on my computer to finish a large mapping project when I got another call about car warranty about to expire. I kept them on the phone for over 20 minutes asking really stupid question. They finally asked about my cars. I said I had a 1986 El Camino and a 1985 911. They just hung up on my so no warranty for me.

The biggest pin of junk text messages in the polls or questionnaires wanting my opinion. My opnios is I ain't gonna participate!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

I got the same one yesterday; reported it as SPAM. I wish we could dispatch a team that would terminate w/extreme prejudice all of these POS people anywhere in the World.

I'd love to be able to respond to these texts and emails with the equivalent of a tech bomb. I'd love to respond in a way that fries the systems that they use to send the emails. Not compromised systems, but the original source.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

It still is not as annoying as the constant call for car warranties. Those finally stopped when the comedians and media started mocking them.

I was waiting on my computer to finish a large mapping project when I got another call about car warranty about to expire. I kept them on the phone for over 20 minutes asking really stupid question. They finally asked about my cars. I said I had a 1986 El Camino and a 1985 911. They just hung up on my so no warranty for me.

The biggest pin of junk text messages in the polls or questionnaires wanting my opinion. My opnios is I ain't gonna participate!

I get snail mail for a car warranty for the wife's car. I'm sure it's the same thing, some crap third party that you pay who then refuses to pay any claims.

[Alan A]

Failing to see the “genius” bit.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Failing to see the “genius” bit.

You can't put color in thread titles. USPS comms from the PI is the genius part.

[herr_oberst]

You must have better spam filters than me. I've been deleting these for at least a couple of years.

[sc_rufctr]

How the private photos of celebs ended up on the internet (2014 leaked photos).

It was basically a mass phishing scam.

[URY914]

I've gotten a few USPS texts. The first one wanted me to pay $.03 with my cc. That's when the scam bells started ringing.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by URY914

I've gotten a few USPS texts. The first one wanted me to pay $.03 with my cc. That's when the scam bells started ringing.

And the USPS has our addresses, but doesn't normally have our cell phone numbers and doesn't have them tied to physical addresses. Hell, it probably also doesn't have the email addresses of most folks unless they've signed up for some service that tied the email to their physical address.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by masraum

And the USPS has our addresses, but doesn't normally have our cell phone numbers and doesn't have them tied to physical addresses. Hell, it probably also doesn't have the email addresses of most folks unless they've signed up for some service that tied the email to their physical address.

Yep, the post office has no idea what our cell phone numbers are. Same thing for may scams. Just delete them.

[Mike Andrew]

Just got one Friday. Deleted and reported.

Damm scammers no doubt get a few gullible folks to cough up their CC numbers and it is off to the races. Had 3 new Visa cards in about 4 years due to illicit readers or something. Bloody PITA to have to contact/revise all of my CC data for autopay and frequent purchase sites. No punishment is severe enough for these criminals including the capital variety.