SMS text scam

I get those occasionally and my spam email folder gets them almost daily.

Even if you think it MIGHT be legit, do not click it. Go directly to the FedEX site (or UPS or USPS; I've gotten those, too) and type in the tracking number.

 

I've been getting the same thing more frequently over the last 6 months.

I even got a scam one from my kids school the other day asking for payment of something or other.

Checked with the wife and nope, a scam which the school followed up with an email about it being a scam.

Sophisticated world we live in these days.

 

I got an SMS text message supposedly from Amazon but it had a phone number, not a 6 digit code number you would expect.
Of course I deleted it immediately.

 

I treat SMS texts just like I treat cellular voice.
If you’re not in my contacts I do not respond.

Of course you have the option of leaving a message with voice, which tends to discriminate between kernel and husk. Sometimes the husk is valuable (ask the Brits!) but I need a more compelling reason to answer the phone or a text than just wanting to be called or texted.

Both my work and cell phones are out of the area code that I live in, which means that if I get an unknown caller from those area codes, there’s an almost 100-percent chance that it’s spam.

 

It’s amazing the length some totally dishonest people will go to, just not to get a proper job for a living. Instead, they’re happy to insidiously scam the innocent populace with their nefarious get rich quick schemes!


iPhone 6s +

 

I run an app called Truecaller on my smartphone. It is updated with a database of known scammers regularly, and usually prevents scam calls and texts from getting through.

Some determined scammers still try to bypass it, but the result is usually one of the following;

Either I don’t answer it at all, having recognised that it’s not in my contacts and it’s definitely a scam call; after they ring off, the number is transferred to the Truecaller database and blocked.

Or in the rare chance I do answer it, the call is often immediately dropped; at which point it is blocked immediately - both locally on my phone and submitted to the Truecaller database.

In the case of the UK, most calls originate from parts of the Asian subcontinent, and turn out to be lucrative HMRC Tax scams, or “Microsoft Engineers” with very distinct foreign accents informing you that they’ve detected the worlds worst virus on your PC and they’ve been given permission by “Your ISP” to clean your PC remotely for free - if you’ll just follow their instructions.
Failure to agree to their demand will result in your internet connection being severed immediately - at least, that’s how they con their way on to so many PCs...... Evil creatures!

Strange world we live in, indeed!


iPhone 6s +