USPS warns of scam involving texts requesting information for package delivery

Salamendacious@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 367 points – USPS warns of scam involving texts requesting information for package delivery
13abc.com

The United States Postal Service is warning of a scam involving text messages that ask for information in order for a package to be delivered.

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They're only like 18mo late on this one. So far I've seen USPS, FedEx, DHL and UPS flavors of this scam.

I love how mine would get progressively more broken in English. Each day a new text with a new link and more failed grammar. Thankfully they gave up after a week.

There is probably a reason for this, the carriers start blocking these, so they have to break the words so they bypass those blocks.

We had these in Finland two years ago, it originates probably from Russia, so we are their sandbox for these kind of cyber shit. Our carriers found out some way to block them and they are not anymore happening. One day our cyber security center just informed that they have co-operated with carriers to block them permanently. I believe the technique is not made public.

Edit: did some digging, so it was keyword based blocking in the network + Europol raided the servers which commanded the malware

I’ve gotten like 4 of these, and it’s honestly surprising to me that anyone with more than a dozen brain cells falls for these scams, since they’re comically obvious.

So yeah I guess that actually accounts for like a good third or so of the country.

They know that there will be a certain number of the population that will see these attempts as obvious. Those texts aren’t meant for us. They’re meant for the elderly and less savvy.

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Well, you say that but coincidentally I was expecting a parcel from a courier and received a well crafted text saying that delivery attempt failed.

It's easy to fall into a trap like this. It was only when I paused wondering why are they asking for my address did I realise its a scam.

It was sent at 8:30, right during personal rush hour time.

Same thing happened to my wife. It was perfect timing with an actual expected package that missed delivery. Send out enough of these and you're bound to get a few hits from people in the exact scenario you're scamming for.

Same here. My teen ordered something that was supposed to arrive this coming weekend. However it arrived early by USPS and the first I learned about it was when he got that scam text. I told him it looked like a scam, but I checked the real tracking number and the package was delivered.

I wonder if they have a data source for real deliveries to target - the online store did use some third party tracker that I accidentally clicked on before going to USPS

Honestly, this is just an unfortunate artifact of the ubiquitous nature of technology these days, and the fact that most people don’t think too hard about what’s actually happening or how this crazy amalgamation of information and services operates, and simply consider it “convenient magic”.

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I got a really believable scam text a couple of weeks ago from a purported collection agency. I'm having some debt issues and it looked very real. The fact that they didn't say my name or who they represented were obvious clues, but I could definitely see myself not thinking about that and downloading their attached PDF.

Dude I got one too. I even Googled the website and it came up as legit. I just ignored it because fuck collection agencies. They can't do anything If they can't verify it's you. Also I don't have debt beyond my car payment which I'm ahead on so that was another hint.

I've been getting these for ages now... UPS, USPS, endless scam texts all the time!

Not only USPS. I got one today from "Canada posts" from a UK number. (I'm in Canada btw).

All of the numbers to me have been +44, which I'm pretty sure is the UK.

Am in the UK, can confirm that's our country code.

Same for me. I'm in the Mid-Atlantic part of the US. I've gotten one every day for the last week. They all have been sent straight to spam though.

Please forward these text messages to spam@uspis.gov to help get the scam websites taken down and spam numbers blocked. Yes, you can send text messages directly to email addresses.

Ive been getting these texts everyday for the past couple weeks. Always from a different overseas #. I always block and delete, but its still happening.

Yeah same, from a +44 number for me. I laughed and reported it as spam.

That's what I did. Then I looked in my Google messages spam folder and there were dozens of them.

Waste their time by engaging but giving fake information. I mentioned this in another comment, but the volume of scam shit I get went down after I started engaging with it and making them filter me out rather than me filtering myself out like the scams are intended to do.

AOL warns email users to not open attachments in any emails offering Britney Spears nude pics

It annoys me that they use different (probably spoofed) numbers that basically make it impossible to block them

Google messages has done a good job blocking them before I see them. My spam filter is full of them.

Been getting these for literal months. Unfortunately the people who will fall for this won't read this warning.

It’s been going on for at least a year. The scammers got exactly what they wanted, this warning means nothing now other than to signal the scammers that they need a new method.

Took em long enough, been getting these for months

these have been all over the UK for years. ngl first time i saw one i almost fell for it since i actually did have an order due

That's what they're counting on. You'll glance at it and in a single moment make a bad decision that exposes your finances.

I've got like 10 in the last week. Every single one has got an "eat my asshole" response.

You should also forward each message to spam@uspis.gov (yes, you can text to email addresses) if you want to help take down the scam sites and get the numbers blocked.

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Canada has been getting these scams for well over a decade. People still fall for it even though it's BRUTALLY OBVIOUS ITS A SCAM. Why would Canada Post text you?

A lot of the phone scams seem to target Chinese. There's some that tell you what's up in English and Chinese (which is a sign right there, as English and French are the official languages) in a recording and then say hit 1 for English and 2 for Chinese.

I'd occasionally hit 1 for shits and giggles and act nervous about the warrant or my package stuck in customs or whatever they were trying to say. Early on, there would be someone trying to engage. First time buddy asked my name and I pointed out that he was trying to contact me so he should already know. Buddy got mad and demanded why I hit the button instead of hanging up lmao. But eventually it would just disconnect if you hit the English option. And I don't know why Chinese so attempts to troll them on that line didn't last long.

Those calls seem to come in waves. Or maybe trolling them a bit gets them to add you to their do not call list and I only get them when someone starts a new scamming shop. I'd like to think I'm annoying them more than they are annoying me lol.

Yeah my friend got one, the URL was convincing and the USPS page is very convincing, it looks almost identical to the real site including load animations.

You went to the site in the link? Lol what

I didn't but my normally smart friend did. They showed me the site and only realized it was fake from some minor detail.

Eh we all get fooled sometimes. Glad they realized it was fake.

Just looked in my text spam. I've gotten several of those over the past week. Huh.

I got one of these yesterday that directed me to go do “uspspl.com” from a random hotmail.com email address.

Yes, I knew what was going on and since there wasn’t any tracking info in the URL I decided to go there.

It did a redirect to the correct “usps.com” site.

Whatever happened it was a fail on the part of the scammers. Lol

Sounds like the same scam we've had (at least in the UK) since internet connected phones became a thing.

"Hey, here's something urgent. Click the link, confirm your address, pay for delivery, oh what's that on your credit card bill?"

The scammers also do it on voicemails (Chinese consulate, DHL, other spoofed orgs), but I've got those USPS texts quite a few times.

I don't fall for it but for some people, it's easy for them to not recognize it as a scam.