Scammers

[kerick]

I had an interesting encounter with UPS today. I received a text message apparently from UPS saying I had a package delayed at the warehouse. I didn't recall any package but I thought maybe my wife or daughter had ordered something. First it asked me for my zip code which I thought odd. Then another page started asking for all kinds of other info. I canceled out of that right there and called the UPS store who said they are getting numerous reports of this scam. It looked very real but too many questions so I got out but it could have got me if I hadn't been suspicious of texts and such in general. So since so many of us order on line just be careful out there.

[rickshaw]

Some people have been "Phishing" now for a couple of   months.  Basically it starts with an email message which purportedly comes from me  personally, claiming they have infected my PC with a trojan which grants them supposedly control of everything on my PC and all my "other devices".  They threaten they will reveal everything about my supposed "habits" such as watching porn and masturbating in front of my PC and my email address and so on to all and sundry.  The thing is, the  first message arrived before I changed my PC, which I have done. Anyway, I know how they are sending email, purporting to be me - they are masquerading as me and connecting to my email server on port 25 and sending the message.  What is interesting is that occasionally, they send me a message from someone else.  What is also interesting is that the amount I due to pay them to prevent this from happening changes in each message - of course it is always in bitcoin, not real cash.  Poor them, I am well awake to their plot and will continue to ignore it and treat it with contempt.   

[Old Wombat]

I got this fun email a few days ago (Monday to be precise):

From: Account Gov <messagingservice@post.workever.com>
To: [me]

Dear customer


After the last annual calculation we noticed that you are eligible to receive a sum of 198.92 AUD

To submit the application electronically please fill out the form. Once completed you will be asked to confirm that the information in the document is correct.
Please click the link below to submit a form for your refund.


http://��gg��.��gg��/13b5gu


Important info: Your refund will not be processed unless you confirm your identity. We will be in touch soon with more info.

@MyGov2023
 <https://www.workever.com/>
 <http://wfemailslink.workforcefm.com/wf/open?upn=DXLAkZ4gfEHPXH-2FD9QIjMrlwPyX9d1D-2Bab9Gh9akBvV-2F79ZDYPaRB3aCcJw-2BGBJOJM0mWQGKJrADdG1bvWVtpb0JASt2Eo-2BJ49Umil4z9c4KxUq7Aop4sZEfpObVXHAwntMTh9GGHXZI5cks-2BwVGLKxewtcDYf-2BL6PXGeP2z3J3Mn2os84F3LPfPo0s7gijbK6R-2F7Dpu9QuUlP5-2FJBHW-2F3VBJajWCsOXMWoJCaqOUvoiy4ZjxrJVpJC9QYhFJVB7NqktoQnzrmoafIX3fu8R68w7Ses-2B-2FL3Ao-2Bc9QQ19EOM-3D>

Immediately picked it as a phishing email & reported it to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch service. There was an attached "document" as well as the rather dodgy <http> link (I opened neither).

[Gondor]

I always find scam emails relatively easy to spot. Some of them could tie in with McCulm's post about deliveries as several in the last few months have tried to imitate verious Courier firms and stair that a package for me can not be delivered etc, etc, etcand monies are required to allow the delivery to take place.

First point is the email address, far to long and complicated to be from said courier whome I will have usually received delivery and notification from previously. Well I buy from eBay and elsewhere so I get a lot of deliveries by various couriers.
Second point is the image, most of these emails have images which are quite nice. If I was half blind I may mistake the logo provided as being correct, or that the van and logo match. The worst that I have seen for this is a UPS imitation logo with an imitation FedEx van 
Third point is that they usually have my email address and the real courier will email to say they were unable to deliver on the day they had previously emaild me to say that my package would be delivered.

Gondor

[Rheged]

After I escaped from teaching, I ran a major book wholesaler's customer service department.  We were sending out a couple of thousand  parcels a day (up to five thousand just before Christmas)   I think I've met EVERY scam possible concerning parcel delivery both by couriers and recipients.  Stories could be told of lost, stolen, strayed etc parcels, and even the genuine case of the spontaneous combustion of a Fedex delivery van.

[McColm]

I always find scam emails relatively easy to spot. Some of them could tie in with McCulm's post about deliveries as several in the last few months have tried to imitate verious Courier firms and stair that a package for me can not be delivered etc, etc, etcand monies are required to allow the delivery to take place.

First point is the email address, far to long and complicated to be from said courier whome I will have usually received delivery and notification from previously. Well I buy from eBay and elsewhere so I get a lot of deliveries by various couriers.
Second point is the image, most of these emails have images which are quite nice. If I was half blind I may mistake the logo provided as being correct, or that the van and logo match. The worst that I have seen for this is a UPS imitation logo with an imitation FedEx van 
Third point is that they usually have my email address and the real courier will email to say they were unable to deliver on the day they had previously emaild me to say that my package would be delivered.

Gondor

I never knew that my surname had a U in it. McColm or the old spelling MacColmbe,it was shortened after the massacre by the British after Queen Sade tried to liberate Ireland. Quite a lot of the clans were wipped out. My family coat of arms can be seen in Saint Stephen's Chapel Westminster Abbey, Edinburgh Castle,and Stirling Castle .

[Captain Canada]

Happens to often these days. And it can catch anybody off guard, especially in these fast paced, digital days. I delete almost everything suspicious, and if I get a call from a number I don't recognize, don't answer. Just leave a message, maybe I'll call 

[zenrat]

Easy way to tell a scam e-mail from a genuine one about a parcel needing to be collected.
We (the post office) know where you live where your parcel is addressed to and where it is waiting to be picked up from.  We will therefore say "your parcel is at <name of post office> awaiting collection.  The scammers don't know where you live (you hope) and as there is no parcel they can't know where it is.  They will therefore say something like "your parcel is at your local post office, send us all your personal details and your credit card numbers and we will tell you where that is".